My Secrets
by BellaBlack98
Summary: Ginny Weasley has gone through some dark times. The Chamber of Secrets, for example. She never could have imagined how much worse it could get. Not until she developed a few dark secrets. Ideas such as the difference between life and death, and just how far morals can get you begin to rule her life. She finds there aren't many things that she's not willing to do for her loved ones.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I look over at one of my best friends. Her head is in some gigantic book.

"Whatchya reading?" I ask in an obnoxious tone.

She doesn't hear me.

"Hermione!" Still nothing. I sigh. I'm probably going to hate myself later but I'm really bored. "I need some help with my Charms essay."

There was a snap and Hermione's full attention was on me. "What's it about?"

"So do you have a date for the ball yet?"

She sighs. "Ginny, really?"

"Is that a yes?"

She blushes. "That's a yes." I say smirking. "Did Ron really get enough gall to ask?"

She blushes darker. "No, not Ron."

"Oh! Scandalous!"

She rolled her eyes. "It was Krum."

"What?" I practically shout. She shushes me. "We're not in the library 'Mione! No way!"

She laughs at me. "Yeah, but please don't tell anyone! Ron's been kind of a prick lately."

"Kind of? Lately? He's always a prick! When he is, he's not just kind of, he's very." I say sitting back in my chair and cocking an eyebrow.

Hermione chuckles softly. "You are something else Ginny Weasley."

"It better be good."

She smiles. "So the charms essay?"

I roll my eyes. "So has either of them figured out the egg yet?"

"Harry said he was close to getting it. Victor and I don't really talk about it much." She says blushing again.

I scoff. "How much you wanna bet Harry's lying?"

"He wouldn't do that would he?"

I shrug. "It's Harry. With him there's only one thing you can predict. He's probably in trouble."

She laughs again. "That he is. But, this is the Triwizard Tournament! He can't just skip out on it. This could kill him!"

I stop smiling. "Don't remind me."

"Sorry, but you can't deny it. It's risking his life."

"I know," I sigh. "Just with Ron freaking out about _everything_. He's stressed. Then, there's snuffles and his nightmare dream vision shit. Also the whole Daily Prophet stuff. It's hard. What about Cedric? You and Cho like each other right?"

She snorts. "She hates anyone that knows your name."

I smirk. "That's great to hear." I say chuckling. "She really hates me doesn't she?"

"Just a bit."

Just then a raven haired boy jumped over the back of the couch and into the seat next to me. "Hey Gin," He says kissing my cheek.

"Hey Harry." I say not really paying attention. "What did I ever do to her? She confuses me."

"Who?"

"Cho." I answer.

"She hates you."

"You don't say?"

Hermione watches our banter with an amused look. "She doesn't talk much about Cedric's tournament."

"Ginny!" Two familiar voices chime.

"What do you want?"

"Who says we wanted anything Gin-Gin?" Fred says sitting on an armchair near me.

I raise my eyebrows. "You're the twins."

"She knows us too well." George says shaking his head.

"All we wanted-"

"Was a small favor-"

"You know for not telling Mumsy about Harry here-"

"and we have a small prank we want to pull." George finished.

"You honestly don't believe that blackmail is going to work on me right? I taught you two what blackmail _was_."

"I'm sure it will work. Mum loves her dear Ginnykins."

"Everyone loves me, Fred. Ask anyone in the room."

"Are you gonna help us or not?"

"Who's it on?"

They smile identical evil smiles. In case you're wondering, yes I did inherit it. "Cho Chang and Cedric."

"I'm in." I say without thinking at all. I hate her, if you can't tell.

Hermione shakes her head. "You two really hate each other."

"It's entertaining though." Fred says.

"Yeah, we all know Ginny could beat her down with her hands tied behind her back and a hippogriff gnawing on her left leg."

I cock my eyebrow. George was always the weirder one. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'll get the chance."

They smirk and strut off. "Why is it that I'm always involved in you and your brothers' blackmail schemes?"

"Consider it a compliment." I say picking up my Charms book. "I hate writing. And reading. And going to class."

"You just don't like to work."

"Pretty much yeah."

Harry chuckles and picks up his Care of Magical Creatures book. "Gross, Blast-Ended Skrewts."

"Ugh, I hate those things." I say. Hermione nods in agreement.

Two long hours later and I throw my book on the table. "I'm going to go off and procrastinate. I'll be over there." I say pointing to a corner with a bunch of my friends.

I walk over and sit down in front of Seamus. "How's it going Leprechaun?"

"Hey Ginny!" He says tapping his glass of water with his wand.

"It's gonna explode Seamus."

Boom! "Hey! Would you look at that?" I say smirking.

He glares at me. The singed hair really doesn't help his case. I smirk and pat the top of his head.

"Ginny!" One of my closest friends squeaks, tackling me.

"I know! It's been so long. An entire four hours. The torture!" I say sarcastically. "I would miss me too."

"You're modest."

"I am."

Kelsey laughs. "Ginger!"

"Blonde!"

I stick my tongue out at her. "Been writing my Charms essay."

"With Harry!" She sings.

"He's my boyfriend." I say looking at her. "You all there today?"

"Yes!"

I smirk. "So, date?"

"No." She says sadly.

"I hear Mikey wants to ask you." I say winking at her.

"Really?" She asks excitedly. "You don't mind?"

I raise my eyebrows. "I was eleven. It doesn't count."

"Yay!" She squeals.

I chuckle.

"Yawn! Are you two done with your girl talk?" Seamus says with an air of superiority.

"So I met this cute guy by this store." I say.

"You mean that place next to the place by the store with the shoes?" Kelsey says excitedly.

"That's the one! Anyway he had-"

"No one cares!" Seamus says exasperatedly.

"I do." Kelsey says in an offended tone.

"Joy, here comes Gossip Girl and her sidekicks Lip-gloss and Bra Strap." I sigh.

Lavender Brown leads her back up clowns over towards us. Romilda Vane and Parvati Patil.

"Weasley!" She snaps.

I can see Harry look up in confusion. "What do you want?"

"Your brother."

"You have to be specific; I have a lot of them. Oh! How about Charlie. He works with dragons! You can go pet them and everything. I hear this time of year is usually when their eggs hatch and they raise their young. Baby dragons!" I say. "I'm sure the big Mother dragons won't mind."

"Ha Ha. Very funny Weasley. How do I get your brother Ron to notice me?"

"Well first you have to get out of my face. Then you have to get out of the room, and finally, get out of my life, and you're on your merry way to getting my brother's heart!" I say sweetly.

"Obviously you're no help!"

"You don't say?"

She scoffs and walks off. "About time." I grumble.

"Hey Gin!" Harry calls across the room. He and Hermione look to be on their way out of the common room. "We're going down to dinner. Wanna come along?"

"Sure!" I call back. "see you guys." I say to Seamus and Kelsey.

**A/N Hey! First Harry Potter Fanfic so I would really love reviews... that would be awesome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I lay in my bed. Its morning and I_ hate_ mornings. But, it's Saturday which begs the question, Why am I even fucking conscious?

The sunlight is starting to stream through the window my bed is set next to. I watch the light wash over the snow covered grounds and bathe the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons' ship and wagon respectively.

I'm excited for tonight don't get me wrong, I'm just not one of those preppy girls who like to spend hours upon hours fixing their hair.

I'm just going to curl my hair, put it into a nice bun and wear some nice looking simple jewelry. It will take me two hours at the most to get ready.

I roll out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a random t-shirt. No need to look super sexy. I'm off to have a snowball fight with my brothers. I grab one of Harry's jackets I had stolen and brushed my hair messily. Grabbing my wand I left the girls' dormitory ready for one mean ass war.

I plop down next to Harry with his nose in a book. "You know if you keep reading like that, you'll turn out like Hermione."

He glanced up and smiled. "It's actually a book Hermione wrote. It's really good. A lot of the characters are based off of people we know. There's even a character like you."

"Really?" I say leaning over his shoulder and looking at the book. "which one? It better have a cool name."

He chuckled. "Yeah, right here. Jesse. She's a lot like you."

"Is she?" I ask.

"Yeah, she has red hair, and she's spontaneous. She lives life to the fullest like you do." He says glancing at me.

"Oh really? What's the book about?"

He flips the book closed and hands it to me. I turn to the back and read the summary aloud.

"_Jesse and Jet are two teenagers growing up in a country that wants their kind dead. They have special powers, and they're called Fiends. Jesse, can fight and kill people with a flick of her wrist and in the blink of an eye. Jet controls the elements. Jesse's main goal in life is to gather a Fiend army and overthrow the government so that Fiends aren't being slaughtered like pigs. Will she manage this? Or go down like the other Fiends?_" I say. "Sounds interesting. Is it any good?"

"Yeah, you'd be surprised Hermione doesn't just read books well, she writes em too." He says slinging his arm around my shoulders.

"Which character is based off of you?"

"Jet, he's loyal and brave. Marc is based off of Ron, you can tell by the way him and Jet act. This girl Lauren is so much like Luna it's creepy. Kate is kinda like Hermione. Rachael's like you mixed with Seamus. It's cool to go through the book and see who is who in the book."

I nod. "I'll read it after you're done. Now though, we need to get ready for the snowball fight." I say evilly. "I'm excited. I'll hit Ron in the face again. I'll break my own record and hit him five times in a row. You ready?"

He laughs. "Yeah, we should probably wait for 'Mione though."

I sigh. "Fine,"

I clip on my golden dangle earrings. They weren't real. They were just some cheap earrings I got one Christmas. My hair fell in loose curls around my face and falling elegantly out of my bun.

I wore a simple gold chain around my neck and a midnight blue dress that hugged my waist and fell freely from my hips to my knees. The skirt of the dress was lacey and hung in a tattered way. It had a vintage feel that I liked.

I had a golden skin tight bracelet with a tiny design of leaves and branches weaving around the band, and a pair of black flats.

I walk out of the bathroom and wait for Hermione.

She comes out five minutes before we have to meet Harry down in the common room.

I don't look at her. "C'mon Hermione we're gonna be, Whoa!" I say shocked. She looks amazing.

"You look great Gin!" She said beaming.

"You too." I say still staring at her. "Trying to impress somebody?" I say back to my old self.

She blushes. "Maybe,"

"You'll succeed."

She blushes more. She leads the way down the steps to the common room.

Harry gapes at her for a moment before turning to gape at me. "You look beautiful." He says into my ear.

I smile. "Dashing yourself, Harry."

He smirks. He's wearing green dress robes, and his hair is as messy as ever.

He tries to flatten it quickly. I stop him. "It looks cute Harry,"

He looks at me in surprise. But, he doesn't try to flatten his hair again.

Walking behind Hermione, I look at Harry.

"Did you ever figure out the egg?"

He sighed. "No, It doesn't make sense; all it does is screech at me."

"Explain the screech." I say in a mock therapist voice. "How does it make you feel?"

"Like I want to shove my head underwater." He grumbles.

"Have you tried that yet?"

"Shoving my head underwater?"

"No, the egg."

He looks at me with a shocked look. "Brilliant Gin."

"I tend to be." I shrug. "I wonder how Ron's going to react at the ball."

"No clue, hopefully civilized." Harry says shrugging.

"You both ought to know, civilized isn't in Ron's vocabulary." Hermione says looking at us.

"Fight?" I guess.

She nods. "He's getting pretty frustrating."

"I lived with him all my life. I've been trying to convince you of this fact for a _very_ long time."

Harry smiled. "I know."

**A/N Okay, some filler, but some important stuff too… hope you like? Oh and there'll be major time skips next chap… So, the next chap will be the last day at Hogwarts for the year. That's when the twist comes in! So, hang in there, and enjoy! Review? Please? Makes my day… Oh! Almost forgot, the story Hermione wrote? That's called Uprising, written by yours truly and if you wanna read go to .com/4216679-uprising I think it's good. And if you like, mind dropping a comment or two? Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I pick at my food absently. This was never supposed to happen. Cedric wasn't supposed to die.

But he did.

I look across the table at Harry. He has big dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and his hair is even wilder than before.

I pat his hand from across the table sending Cho into hysterical sobs across the room. I look over guiltily.

I'm met with death stares from all her friends. Yep all three of them tried to intimidate me. Oh, I'm so scared. I've got six older brothers bro, back off.

They leave me alone and I look back at Harry.

"You should write to Snuffles tonight when you get home. He'd love to hear from you." I say.

He looks up and tries to smile. It turns out more as a grimace, but I know what he meant.

"Hey Gin!" Collin Creevey calls as he runs up to me.

"What's up Collin?"

"Dumbledore says he wants to meet you in his office, now." He says.

"Why?"

He shrugs. "If I knew you would know by now wouldn't you?"

"Good point." I say. I look back at Harry. "You'll be okay?"

He looked at me, tried to smile again and nodded. "I'll be fine Gin, go see what he needs."

I nod. "What's the password?"

"Carrot cake,"

"Classy," I say sarcastically. Collin laughs quietly getting some dirty looks and walks away.

Harry manages a weak smile. "See ya."

"See ya."

I walk down the corridors. Gee, hope I'm not in trouble. I'm probably not. If Gred and Forge aren't expelled yet, then I won't be.

Ha! I wonder if any professors realized that Gred and Forge's pranks got better and cooler when I came. I'm just that amazing.

I come to the gargoyle statue and say the password loud and clear. You never know with that thing. It's kinda creepy.

Walking up the spiraling staircase I knock on the headmaster's office.

"Come in." I hear him say.

I walk in. "Ah, Miss. Weasley. I'm very glad that you're here. Please take a seat we have some, dire, things to discuss."

I cock an eyebrow and sit across the old man. His silvery beard reflected the fire light and his bright blue eyes pierced into my soul. He takes off his half-moon spectacles and looks at me carefully.

I show no emotion whatsoever.

He smiles faintly and puts his glasses back on. "Well, Miss. Weasley, mind if I call you Ginny?"

"No sir."

"Ginny, as you know Voldemort is back." He pauses to watch my reaction to the word. Again, no reaction. He smiles. "And he'll be recruiting Death Eaters now."

I'm curious as to where he's going with this.

"I have a lot of storytelling to do with you Ginny. Run down of the story. I want you to be a double spy."

He waits for a reaction. I'm stunned believe me but I don't show it. I'm good at that if you can guess.

"I think you'll make a good one." He says smiling at me again. "Professor Snape is also a double spy. I hear you two don't exactly get along?"

I smirk inside. I really had a habit, and a reputation, for mouthing off to that particular grease ball.

"Yes sir." I say indifferently. "We've had issues."

He smiles again. "Well, I considered you for his particular job because of your skills in keeping secrets. I've been watching you Ginny. You're very close to Harry, and I figured that would be another reason to hire you. They say desperation goes a long way to survival." He pauses to check my reaction. Still, I don't give him the satisfaction of knowing my feelings. "I want you to join the Death Eater ranks, to spy on them, giving them fake information in a concealed manner, and then bringing me the information on the Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Pause. "I need your answer now Ginny. If you say no, then Harry can't know about this conversation. Yes, then Harry and anybody else but myself and Professor Snape may not know anything about this and your position."

"That's kind of obvious Professor. If anyone outside of a small group of people were to know, then it's a more likely chance to get sniffed out."

"Exactly, Miss. Weasley I truly believe you are the perfect person for the job."

"I'll do it. But, don't think I don't realize you didn't really leave me a choice." I say simply. "Sir," I add.

He looks at me with his weird smile. "Perfect." There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Who else walks in the door but that grease ball Snape? Yay. I hate that guy.

"Miss. Weasley," He says stiffly.

"Professor," I say coldly back.

"Did she say-?"

"Yes," Dumbledore says kindly. "Please, Severus, have a seat."

He walks stiffly by me and sits down.

"You two will be working together for quite awhile. I really do hope you two can compromise your problems and become a team." He says kindly.

What a load of-

"Headmaster," Snape says with his silky voice. "We need to get her caught up on training."

You don't say? "Training?" I say. "What kind of training Professor?"

"Occlumency, Legilimency and other more advanced spells. Professor Snape will brush you up on Dark Magic." Dumbledore says.

Awesome! Always wanted to learn that stuff.

Dumbledore chuckles, well, I guess we looked odd, Snape as emotionless and cold as usual, and me, cold and emotionless because that's just how I am.

"Sir? When do I start?"

Dumbledore smiles, "As soon as possible. I believe, though, that the train is about to leave. You should go see your friends. After all, you never know when they can be taken away."

I take my leave and as I walk down the corridor Dumbledore's words sink in. _You never know when they can be taken away_.

This is war after all. I'll fight it. I raise my head high as I walk down the corridor. Those Death Eaters won't know what hit em. I won't stop till I'm struck down.

Wow, real optimistic thoughts for a thirteen year old girl.

I shake my head from the thoughts and walk back into the Great Hall. I'm called over to the Gryffindor table by Hermione. I walk over and sit by my brother.

I look at him he glances at me. "I love you Ron." I mumble to him.

He looks at me. "Love you too Gin." He says back quietly.

Harry plops down next to me. "We ready to go?"

Hermione, Ron, and I nod. We get up and make our way to the crimson Hogwarts Express back to our homes.

At the train station I hug Harry. "It wasn't your fault. Write, this summer." I say in his ear.

He kissed my cheek. "I'll see you this summer."

I wink. "See ya. Harass your relatives for me."

He laughs and walks over to his overweight uncle. Merlin go run a mile, he could use it.

**A/N Okay, major milestone! I bet you didn't see that coming! Woop woop! Also, please don't hesitate to check out BlackenedFire19 on . I really would like some feedback on my originals. Shameless self advertising out of the way, I really hope you enjoyed and Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I listen at my door, to Dumbledore calmly explaining the Order of The Phoenix to Mum.

He doesn't mention me.

He says that he would like to train me personally. He says that because I had been attacked by Voldemort before, I might be considered as a target again.

Lies.

The first of so many. I sigh. At least he knows how to convince Mum. I reread the letter Harry sent to me. It was mostly just mindless small talk.

I walk over to my desk and dip a quill into the ink.

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm going to be busy with Dumbledore. I can't say much about it, but it's going to be pretty hard-core stuff._

_We're moving in with Sirius. Hermione's coming soon too. Ron's excited you can only guess. They really need to get over themselves and admit their feelings for each other._

_Headquarters for Dumbledore's gang is going to be there. He told me that headquarters used to be your house until everything happened._

_I've talked to Sirius. He's excited to see you. He's also excited to be around people. Buckbeak's been his only friend for awhile and now all of the sudden there's going to be a bunch of people. He looks like a puppy about to get a treat._

_Mum's getting the rundown of the Order. She seems excited to join. Bill and Charlie are joining with Percy too. Fred and George want to but Mum won't let them. I can understand and I think it's stupid not to let them in. They're so smart. They could add so much to the Order. Like technology and other tools, equipment, and potions. They're really happy you gave them the money. They've been kidnapping me recently and forcing me to help them with brainstorming and finding guinea pigs for them. It's frustrating._

_I've been following the Quidditch games. It looks like the Harpies are going to make it the championship this year. Their game is coming up with Chudley. Usually Ron and I root for the same team but this game is definitely going to cause a fight. I just know it. Chudley's horrible this year, and well, every year. The Harpies though, are incredible._

_I've taken to strapping Percy down and forcing him to listen to it. He really hates it. All he's been doing lately is work and he's been really cold lately. You know with all the Ministry stuff. He's being really infuriating. To the point that he's blaming you._

_He told me the other day that he didn't approve of you and that I should separate myself from you. I told him exactly where to stuff that idea. Got me in trouble with Mum though. I don't really care._

_He's been such a prick. Percy keeps bugging Ron about it. Sirius nearly blew his lid._

_Lupin visited too. He's pretty cool, kept saying that I really grew up. What did he expect? Last time I saw him I was twelve. It's been awhile._

_I played a minor prank on Fred. He retaliated by telling Mum about us. She won't shut up about it now. Fred didn't expect her to be happy about it. Unfortunately she's super happy. And really talkative. You know me Harry, I hate people. Mum's just so, in your face. Drives me batty. Beware, she may send you a letter and/or hug the living daylights out of you when she sees you._

_Dad's trying to convince Dumbledore to let you come, but, he's being stubborn and especially irritating._

_That's about all I can think of right now, not to mention I need to go with Dumbledore now._

_Love, Ginny_

I seal it and walk down the steps. I pass Dumbledore and Mum.

"Ginny dear, what are you doing?" She asks a little forcibly.

"To owl this to Harry." I say over my shoulder.

"To Harry?" Dumbledore asks in that frustratingly innocent yet warning tone.

"Yes sir." I say letting Errol out of his cage and tying the envelope to his leg. I walk over to the bottom of the stairs. "Ron, I'm sending Errol, do you have a letter that needs to be sent?"

"Who?"

"Harry! Who else?"

"Hold on!"

He appears letter in hand. He rushes down the stairs and hands it to me. I tie it to Errol and send him off.

"Hope he doesn't die this time." I say cocking an eyebrow.

"Don't get your hopes up." He says smiling at me.

"Here was I, thinking our owl might actually make it to his destination!"

"What a foolish girl!" He says dramatically. "Any pranks planned?"

"A few." I say smirking. "Mostly on Percy."

"He deserves it." He grumbles.

"He does." I growl.

We walk into the living room where Dumbledore and Mum stood. Mum looks pale and upset.

"Ginny, you should go with Headmaster for your training session." She says.

I nod and walk over. We Floo to Hogwarts and I sit in the office.

"Severus will be teaching you Occlumency and Legilimency. Along with Dark Magic. I will be teaching you advanced general magic."

I nod. "Out of curiosity. What kinds of Dark Magic will I be learning?"

"Unfogivables."

"So, Avada Kadavra, Cruciatus and Imperius?"

"Among others." He says looking at me.

I meet his eyes. They're filled with regret and some level of admiration. I'm confused but I say no more.

"Today, you're going to be with Severus and he's going to start with Occlumency."

There's a knock on the door and Snape walks in. We glare at each other and he takes me down to the dungeons.

"Today, we're going to be learning Occlumency. I believe you read about it?"

"Yes." I say coldly.

"Let's try it then." He says harshly.

I have about thirty seconds to clear my mind before the struggle between minds begins. He's so much stronger than I am, but I try. I soothe the boiling anger bubbling up and push back against him. I struggle for a couple more seconds before he breaks through and memories of Harry and I mixed with memories of Ron and I as kids flash before my eyes.

Then, it's gone and I'm back in the dungeons with a stunned Snape. I snarl. "What was that for? Go ahead just randomly attack me out of nowhere I won't mind!"

His eyes seem to soften and I'm taken aback. "That was incredible for a beginner." He says awkwardly.

"Glad I can please you." I say sarcastically. Really I don't mind him attacking out of nowhere. I'll be up against more sudden attacks soon. I still don't like how he didn't tell me anything about Occlumency.

"For awhile there, I sensed you were furious."

"No kidding." I snap.

He smirks. "But, you put aside your emotions to deal with the task at hand. This is good."

I sneer. "Another thing, you fought back. This was what you needed to do." He continues. "In the future, you want to throw me off completely. This is more difficult. A mind isn't some simple essay you can just read. It's a complex web of information and memories that needs to be sorted through. In order to learn Legilimency you need to be able to navigate the web. Occlumency and Legilimency go hand in hand, something not all people can teach and not all people can learn. It's crucial for you to learn because the Dark Lord is stronger than I am. Even more so than Dumbledore himself. You should never underestimate the Dark Lord."

My anger ebbs away as I listen to him, for once. "Go on."

"Occlumency is harder to learn when you are simple minded. Your brother Ron wouldn't be able to."

"That's the truth." I mumble.

"You have a very complex mind. You learn fast. It's why you're good at Charms and Transfiguration. The best way to defend yourself against an attack is to push your emotions aside, because they make your mind open, and tighten your web. If you can do this, you can defend yourself, but, throwing me off isn't the same. Try to defend yourself." He says and suddenly I feel an unbearably strong force in the front of my mind.

My previous anger disappears and any frustration I have I push aside. I can feel myself being pushed on and I tighten my mind. Forcing it to go blank. It takes Snape several minutes before he breaks through me and a flash of Percy goes by my eyes before Snape and I are back in the dungeons.

He smiles. I mean actually _smiles. _"You did very well. Better than many full grown wizards can."

I nod. My head throbs a little but I pay no mind. "So, that tug at the front of my mind, is you forcing into my mind. Something tells me that I won't be able to feel the Dark Lord." I say looking at him curiously.

"Most likely no." Snape says meeting my eyes with his black ones.

Suddenly without warning I feel another attack. I close my mind pushing aside all emotions. Again, my mind slowly filters blankly. As quickly as he had come on he was off again.

"Very good." Snape says approvingly. "You'll make a good Death Eater."

I cock an eyebrow. "I'm so proud."

He smirks. "You're making amazing progress. You need to meditate every evening and every morning. Not long. Five minutes at most. You can do this anywhere really. A few deep breaths until, your mind is blank and tight. You're dismissed. You can Floo from there." He says pointing at the fireplace in the corner.

I arrive back home and immediately crash hard. My head throbbing from today's Occlumency lessons.

**A/N Hey guys! so I hope you enjoyed. I really like writing this story. Also I really like reading reviews about this story. Ya'll are awesome! I hope you liked my take on Occlumency... anyway see ya! Review and Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I wake up late in the morning. Ron is pounding on the door. "Gin! C'mon! We're about to leave!" He calls through the door.

I stumble out of bed and dress myself in a simple t-shirt and some sweatpants. I grab my trunk and walk out my door and down the steps.

I walk slowly to the fire place in the living room. Fred and George waited there with growing smirks on their faces.

They see me wave and disappear. "Show offs!" I call at them knowing they didn't hear me. "I hate mornings." I grumble walking over throwing the Floo powder turning the flames emerald green. "Grimauld Place!"

In a swirl of color I land in a fire place with Sirius goofing off with Fred and George. I walk out.

"Ginny!" He shouts childishly and hugs me.

"Hey Sirius. You know I saw you a grand total of what are you putting on my back?" I say checking my back.

"Who said I was doing anything to you?"

"I live with them. I've done this to Ron." I say ripping a charmed piece of paper off my back. It was flashing colors saying 'I snog the boy who lives'

"Could you be anymore immature?" I ask throwing it at Fred's face. "Good one though. Pathetic, but classic."

"Like you could do better." Sirius smirks.

"I don't suggest that Padfoot." George says. "She's our sidekick."

I laugh. "Oh Forge, you're _my_ sidekicks."

"Speaking of failing pranks." Fred begins.

Suddenly Fred swings me over his shoulder. George walks beside him.

"Again guys?"

"Yep." They chorus.

Sirius follows. "This should be interesting."

I sigh. "Guys you could just politely ask me to come with you. Despite what you think I enjoy thinking up cruel things to do to our brothers."

George laughs. Fred throws me in to the room and I fall onto the floor. "Not even a gentle let down!" I scoff. "Rude."

He scoffs and the twins jump onto the bed and sit up looking at me expectantly. Sirius and I look at the only seat left in the room.

The race is on. I scramble to the chair as Sirius runs off in dog form toward the seat.

"Ha! I win!" I shout making it to the seat first.

The twins are hysterical with laughter at this point.

"Brilliant!"

"Congrats,"

"Dearest,"

"Gin-Gin!" They end in a chorus.

"Shut it you two."

There was tapping at the window. I look over and there's a snowy white owl on the window sill. It's Hedwig.

"Hedwig!" I say running over to the window. I let her in and she hops onto my shoulder nipping my ear affectionately. "Hey girl, What's Harry got to say?"

I untie the letter from her leg. I turn and notice all three boys' evil grins.

"Bloody Hell, leave me alone!" I snarl. Padfoot lunges at me and I duck.

Hedwig screeches and dive bombs poor Sirius. I dodge Fred and George easily. I open the door and smirk. "Being Chaser has its perks." I say and I slam the door in their faces. I run down the steps and behind Ron.

"Protect me!" I yelp looking around his broad shoulders. My two Beater brothers running after me.

"Ronald! Get that letter! It's a love note!" Fred calls.

Ron turns around and meets my eyes with an evil look in his eyes.

"Aghh!" I shout and turn on heel and run.

There was the sound of the front door slamming and I run down the hall.

"Hermione!" I shout hiding behind her. Her parents stand behind her. "Oh hey, I'm Ginny Weasley. Nice to meet you." Say shaking both hands and looking around Hermione.

"C'mon guys! Leave me alone!" I shout as Ron runs down the hall.

He stops. "Hey Hermione." He blushes.

"Yeah! Better stop!" I call.

"I will get that letter!"

"You're just jealous 'cause I'm the only one Harry responds to these days!" I call sticking my tongue out at him.

"You have a letter from Harry?"

I nod. "Get Gin-Gin's dearest love note!" George calls.

"Oh! Gin-Gin has a love note from her true love the boy who lived!" Fred says in a squeaky voice making smooching noises.

"Shut it!" I say. "You're not getting the letter!"

"Why not?" Sirius whines.

"Because it's mine!" I snarl. I turn on my heel and walk away. When I hear footsteps following me I break into a run barely dodge Mum and run up the steps I run into my room and lock it.

That'll do absolutely no good but at least it will gain about four minutes of solitude. I dive under the bed and breathe freely. Nobody will be able to reach me here!

_Dear Ginny,_

_I had a bit of a run in with a couple of dementors. I used my Patronus but, I got expelled. It's frustrating me that no one will tell me anything. Not even you._

_I have the same nightmares every night. I don't understand. Uncle Vernon is really upset. He's kinda glad that I got expelled. Said it "taught me a lesson". I don't want to live here Gin. It's not a good place._

_I'm tired of the small talk Gin. And I know that you can't tell me I just feel so beneath you all. Because I don't know what you do. Please, tell me Gin._

_Love Harry,_

I sigh. I can't say anything. I scoot out from under the bed just in time for Fred and George to pop into my room.

"Give us the letter Gin-Gin."

"It doesn't have anything special in it." I say rolling my eyes. "But no."

He looks about ready to argue. "I'll get Mum." I warn. That shuts them up.

**A/N Okay mostly filler, but also some info. Please review? They're important to me because then I won't grow as a writer and that is especially important to me. Thanks for reading this far! R&R and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I'm bent over trying to catch my breath.

Snape is smiling at me. He's done a lot more of that lately. He's not that bad of a guy. I guess since our survival depends on each other it's a good thing that we're getting along.

He attacks again. I block his spell and shoot back. My spell is dark purple in color and he just barely blocks it in time. "That would have hurt."

"If you call getting your skin peeled off hurt, then yeah."

"Your Dark Magic is improving." He says blocking another curse I send at him.

He sends up red sparks to signal the end of the duel. "We're done with the simple Dark spells. Let's see about the Unforgivables. You won't need to know the Imperius as badly as Cruciatus and Avada Kadavra."

He walks over and brings an owl in a cage over. I think he purposefully got one that looked like Hedwig.

"Do the Cruciatus curse."

I look at the innocent owl. I take a deep breath. "Crucio!" I say. There was a shock of pain that made the owl screech and jump back but nothing serious.

Snape looks at me curiously. "Try again, with more feeling. Feel the curse."

I take another deep breath and gather all anger and frustration I have in my body. "Imagine the pain." Snape says.

I imagine the pain the owl is in and I feel the power radiate from it. "Crucio!" I say sharply.

There was incredibly loud screeching. The owl was squirming in desperate attempts to end the agony. But it doesn't.

I feel the power rush over me. My fingertips itch and my eyes flash with pure energy. I feel this unstoppable control wash over me and it feels good. I lift the curse and the owl falls unconscious.

I hear clapping and I turn to find Snape clapping. "You're going to be one of the best double spies in history." He says calmly. "Even better than I."

I look at him shocked. "All I did was torture an owl."

"Yes, but that feeling of power you got," He says looking at me straight in the eye. "Was enough to turn many people your age to become Dark Wizards. The control you got, I saw it flash in your eyes. You are extremely talented. I say before the end of summer you'll be ready to get the mark."

I nod. The owl woke up and you can hear its panicked hooting. "Kill it." He says.

"Avada Kadavra!" I say sharply.

The owl falls to the bottom of the cage with a thump. "Go home, get some rest. You'll be here tomorrow morning, be ready for some more magic involving the mind. Strengthen your mind."

I nod and Floo back. I'm dead tired and I walk through the kitchen. "Ginny dear! How was training?"

"Tiring." I say. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Okay dearie. Harry's going to be here this afternoon."

I nod and walk up the steps. I walk into the bedroom I share with Hermione and I collapse on my bed. Completely ignoring Ron and Hermione.

"Hey Ginny. Tired much?"

I give them a very impolite hand gesture and pull the covers over my head. In seconds I'm asleep.

Thank Merlin for sleep.

Hermione's shaking me awake. "Gin! Harry's going to be here soon." She says.

I sigh. "Fine, I'll get up." I growl.

She leaves me alone. I get out of bed and brush my hair. I hadn't bothered to change clothes when I went to sleep so I just straighten my clothes and walk down the stairs to the living room.

Sirius looks like an excited puppy. Which in a way he was one. Fred and George decide to bother me some more.

"Excited to see the boy who loved?" Fred asks in his annoying female voice.

"Shut it Fred!"

"Aw, look Gin-Gin's upset about that Freddy!"

"Ow!" Both shouted when I hit them both in the gut.

"That's what you get." I say smirking.

There was a thump that was the door opening and then a loud crash which was Tonks knocking over the umbrella stand.

Harry walks in smiling. Sirius is the first to hug him. Then, Ron and Hermione, finally I get my chance to hug him. "Dumbledore's arguing your case." I whisper in his ear.

He smiles at me. Then, Mum gets to him. Instead of hugging just him she hugs us both saying things like "Glad to see you, you and Ginny, and Oh! Merlin you're so cute together!"

I squirm out of the hug. I really hate hugs in general.

Then Mum gets started on scolding Harry for underage magic. I tune out and walk over to Hermione and Ron. They're arguing about something that I don't care about.

"It's a good book Ron! You should read it!" Hermione says rolling her eyes.

"You two have lowered yourselves to arguing about books now?" I say knitting my eyebrows together. "We all know Ron doesn't read."

"Exactly!"

"But I wrote it!" Hermione whines. "Ginny read it! Harry read it! Why can't you?"

"Because I don't read."

"It's actually a really good book." I intervene.

Hermione blushes. "See? Ginny likes it. She hates everything."

"No I don't!"

"You hate things just for the fun of hating things Gin." She says looking at me.

"Well, okay." I say nodding.

I feel an arm around my shoulders and I immediately know its Harry. I smirk at Ron's pointed glare.

"Let's go upstairs." Hermione says. We walk up the stairs and into me and Hermione's room.

Harry drops his arm from my shoulders and leans against the door. Hermione and I sit on my bed and Ron sits on Hermione's bed.

"Why wouldn't you tell me anything?" Harry barks.

I immediately know not to get into this.

"We couldn't tell you anything Harry. Dumbledore's orders. What if someone intercepted the letters and got all of this information from us?" Hermione reasons.

Harry snaps something angrily and I pick up a piece of paper. I scribble a random note on it and seal it in an envelope.

"Hey!" I snap threw the argument. Everyone turns to look at me. "First of all, I'm sorry we couldn't say anything but look at this."

I break the seal of the envelope. I pull out the letter unfold it. I show it to Harry. Then, I put it into a new envelope. I close it and I tap the original envelope with my wand. Then, I tap the new one. My signature writes itself on the other envelope and the seal sprouts like a flower.

I show the finished product to Harry. "This is how easy it is to intercept mail and read it without being found out. I used common household spells. Remember how easy it was for Dobby to steal your mail in your second year? It's very easy Harry. We can't take those chances. In fact I was taking a risk by telling you that Dumbledore even had a group. That's how much danger we're in." I say.

Harry has his eyebrows raised. "You just did underage magic."

"I'm excused from the rule because Dumbledore wants me trained specially, in case The Dark Lord targets me." I lie smoothly.

"What about me?" Harry says looking at me as if he knew I was lying. I don't give anything away.

"It's Dumbledore. No one knows what goes on in that man's head."

**A/N Okay… I hit really huge writer's block. And well I've been super busy. With finals, my original stories, and shwhatnot. I have off tomorrow from school, so you can hope for another update within a couple days if not later today. Review? Please?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I walk down the path. My hood up covering my face and my head down. I follow Snape, who's also hooded, into Malfoy Manor.

Now, it's time to become the Death Eater. Anything I say can lead to being discovered. I have to be careful.

We head down the long corridor where Snape heads in and I wait outside the door.

A few words were exchanged and a pale blonde boy a year older than me walks out and ushers me inside. I follow Draco Malfoy into the room.

There sits a man with a face more like a snake's than a man and beady red eyes. He sat with power and sophistication in his posture and he sits in a high-backed chair much like a throne. At least he treated it that way.

I immediately drop to my knees and bow my head. "My Lord, it is an honor to finally meet you." I say in a hushed tone that was heard well around the room.

Voldemort stares at me. "Stand,"

I stand and drop my hood. I meet his eyes and he smiles a creepy smile. "A Weasley? _The_ Weasley girl? I've heard about you."

I bow my head. "Yes, My Lord."

He stares at me in some sort of approval. "What kind of use are you to me?"

"My Lord, I'm close to the Potter boy. I can give you a wealth of information." I say staring directly into his eyes. "Snape here, can't even pretend to be able to give you this information." I scoff. "Potter hates him. He would tell his inner most secrets to Snape as soon as he would kill that Mudblood Granger. I, My Lord, have managed to gain position as his girlfriend. He would tell me anything."

Voldemort looks somewhat pleased. "Your family. They're in the Order of the Phoenix yes?"

"Yes, My Lord."

He nods and contemplates allowing me into his ranks. "Bella!" He calls.

Bellatrix Lestrange enters the room with her wild black hair and her heavily hooded crazy eyes. She looks at me like an animal preparing itself for its next meal.

"The Muggles. Are they dead yet?" He asks sharply.

"No My Lord." She gasps.

"Take, Miss. Weasley here, I want her to prove to me, that she is ready to help get rid of the scum that inhabits this Earth." He says eerily.

Well, looks like I'm about to hurt some people.

She bows and disappears. There's grunting a muffled scream and then silence. She bursts through the door with three tied up figures floating through the doorway after her.

There is a man a woman and their daughter. All of them were blonde and had beautiful blue eyes like Ron's.

I want to kill the snake-like man sitting before me with a smirk on his face. But, that's not my job, so I stand there with an emotionless mask on my face.

The Dark Lord stands and walks over to the woman. He grasps her face between his long spindly fingers and shakes it back and forth.

"Scum. Weasley, show them who is on top. Do whatever you like." He says waving his wand. A table appears and on it multiple weapons such as axes knives and even a whip.

I look over the weapons.

I pull my wand and three chairs appear. Their ropes disappear and chains lace around their chairs and keeping their bodies pinned to them.

I smirk. I point my wand at the little girl she looks to be about six or seven. "Crucio!" I snap.

She screams in agony. I feel the raw power lace through my veins. My body floods with the feeling of superiority.

The parents start to call for mercy. They beg me to stop.

I end the agony and flick my wand violently. Chains shoot from the backs of their chairs and bound their mouths so hard they break several teeth.

I went back to torturing the little girl. She finally passes out so I lay off her until she wakes up. I walk to her father and yank his head back by his hair. He's sobbing at this point.

"Oh shut up. You think you deserve life? You're a pathetic Muggle. You deserve nothing." I growl. I put the tip of my wand to his throat. He starts to scream in agony and I lift my wand to reveal a nasty burn mark.

I laugh cruelly. The little girl wakes up and I smirk. She looks lost, almost as if she had gone insane. I grab a knife from the table and walk towards her.

I carve into her little arm "I am a filthy piece of scum." She's screaming now. Finally I growl.

"Avada Kadavra." I was sick of her screams anyway.

The mother's sobbing. She looks absolutely miserable. I carve into her forehead "Pathetic." Then, on her arms, I carved "I couldn't protect my child, I am useless." I smirk at her sobbing and her heavy breathing.

I kill her. Then onto the man. I carve into his forehead "Inferior." Then onto his arms I carve "My family screamed in agony, I only watched."

With that I stabbed him in the chest. With a ten minute round of Cruciatus curse, I kill him.

I left the knife in his chest. I turn back to The Dark Lord whilst putting away my wand.

There was clapping from the crowd that had gathered. I don't smile. I have only eyes for my master.

"Bella! Give, Ginny, her mark."

I fall to my knees. "Thank you My Lord, it is an honor! I will never let you down." I say in a rush.

Bella leads me into another room. "It's good to see _one_ of the Weasley's have good blood." She says. She takes my left arm in her hand. She pushes up my sleeve and presses her wand to my forearm.

She murmurs something I can't make out, and suddenly I feel unbearable heat and stabbing sensations in my arm. I grit my teeth against the pain and somehow manage to remain unfazed.

I crash onto my bed with one of Harry's sweatshirts on.

Hermione smiles at me from her book. "How was training Gin?"

"Exhausting." I say my voice muffled through the pillow.

**A/N So I just realized that I am one messed up girly. But hey, life is more fun when you're demented! Review? That would be awesome!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I wear long sleeves as we wait to hear about Harry's trial.

We hear a thump of the door and Hermione, Ron, and I run down the hall to meet them.

We wait for Harry to tell us. "I'm not expelled." He says smiling.

All three of us cheer and engulf him in a hug. We walk lazily back into the living room and sit on the couch.

Padfoot runs in barking and jumps onto Harry's lap licks his face and jumps down. Padfoot changes into Sirius and he sits in the armchair across from Harry.

I elbow Harry. "See? You _are_ special. Not many people can say that their uncle licks them on a daily basis."

Sirius wipes his tongue on his arm. "Unfortunately Harry, you could use a shower. You're sweaty and gross."

Hermione pulls her trusty book from wherever she hides those things and turns to the page she was last at.

Later that night I walk into the bathroom to change. I sit on the edge of the bathtub and pull back my left sleeve.

There it was. The reminder that my daily nightmare was real. I use a rag to trace the outline of the skull. I trace the snake pouring from its mouth. It reminded me of the Basilisk. I wasn't exactly afraid of the Chamber anymore, or snakes for that matter, but I was not a fan. The skull reminded me of all the dead rats and such that were in the Chamber.

My Dark Mark was pitch black and I was careful that I didn't touch it with my skin. Snape had pretty much backed off ever since I got it.

He said that it was best that we stayed for the most part separate. Unless our business crossed we needed to stay away from each other. I had gathered this much. If I got discovered and we saw that Snape was too close to me, they might assume that he was a double spy as well.

Dumbledore didn't agree. He didn't think that I was ready to handle Voldemort without the aid of Snape. I knew though, that I could and that I was probably going to destroy my life with it. But, I knew that I had to. For Harry.

I sigh and rest my forehead on the edge of the sink.

Mum had already asked me about the long sleeves. _Already._ It's only been five days. It's plagued me though.

I remember that little girls face when I wiped her blood off of my hand onto her shirt. She was so scared. I _caused _that. It was _me. _But, what scares me the most is that, I don't really _care_.

I mean, should I care? It was after all, just one muggle. Why does it matter?

"It should." I whisper to myself.

But it doesn't. I sigh. I get up and change into my pajamas.

I look into the mirror. I have large dark circles under my eyes and I look so pale. I look plain miserable.

I remember that day so clearly. I remember every sensation. From, the wind blowing my face back as I walked up to the Manor, to, the power that rushed up my arm and through my very veins as I heard the little girls screams.

I sigh again. I exit the bathroom and trudge towards my bed.

"Ginny." I look up to Hermione.

"What?"

"You've been," She paused as if to find the right words. "Off, lately."

I look at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been tired more. I mean even more tired than you were when you started your training. You look all pale. Even Ron noticed. You know Ron he doesn't notice anything even when its right in front of his face." She says looking at me with anxiousness. "We're worried about you. It's like the Chamber all over again."

I shake my head. "I'm not being possessed if that's what you're asking 'Mione. I can remember everything I do, and nothing bad has been happening. I'm too well trained for that. I have Occlumency and it's been working well. Even Snape's been impressed. You know how he is."

I sit on the edge of her bed and pull my knees up. "'Mione nothing's wrong. Maybe I'm just getting sick or something." I lie so easily it's almost sickening.

She looks like she doesn't believe me. "Hermione really, nothing's wrong. I'm going to stop training as soon as school starts and I'll have so much more energy."

She believes me now I can see in her eyes. "Okay, Ginny. Just take it easy."

I smile. "So what ya reading?"

That gets her talking and now I can zone out.

I say bye to Ron and Hermione as they walk to the prefects carriage and I leave Harry with Neville and Luna while I go find Seamus and Kelsey.

"Ginny!" Collin shouts from a few feet away.

"Hey Collin! Got any new collages?"

"Do you even know me?" He asks "Of course I do! I'll show you in the common room later."

I nod. "Where's Leprechaun and Blondie?" I ask referring to Seamus and Kelsey.

He shrugs. "How's Harry?"

"He almost got expelled this summer. But, Dumbledore managed to get him back into the school."

"That's a relief."

"Tell me about it." I say standing on my toes to look over the crowd.

We make our ways down the train until we find them. I smirk when we find them snogging.

Collin and I look at each other with evil looks. We sneak in and sit down next to them.

"So how was your summer?" I ask loudly.

They fly apart eyes wide and faces flushed. Collin and I smirk.

They both begin to blush and Collin and I burst into laughter. "You shoulda seen your faces!" Collin gasps between his fits of laughter.

"Priceless!" I say.

Kelsey shoves my shoulder and Seamus slaps the back of Collin's head.

"Okay, so you found us out. So what?" Kelsey says glaring at me.

"Nothing. We knew for _ages_!" Collin says smirking.

"We just needed some end of summer laughs." I say scoffing.

Seamus scowls. "Whatever. You have no room to talk Ginny! By the way, how was Harry's tongue this summer?"

It's my turn to scowl. "Well, actually if you really want to know, it was amazing. I can even go into detail if you want." I say smirking at the way everyone shouts "No!" At the same time. "That's what I thought."

"You win this time!"

"I win every time!" I scoff.

After a while of talking about our summer we were back to taunting each other.

"Weaselette!" I hear a sharp snobbish voice shout.

I turn to Draco Malfoy and scowl. "What do you want Malfoy?" I say coldly.

"We need to talk!"

I scoff. "What could we possibly need to talk about?" I ask strutting over to him. We were the same height and I stare coldly into his eyes in an intimidating way.

He takes a slight step back. "You know what we need to talk about."

"What? Jealous are you?" I ask smirking. We're practically whispering. But in the way we looked it looked entirely impersonal. "Are you jealous Draco? Upset that I serve The Dark Lord and you don't?" I say poking his chest viciously. "You saw what I did in there. I _am_ superior to you. You owe me Malfoy. _You _owe _me._"

He growls in response. "I will be His servant. You will wish you were as loyal as me."

I take a step forward. Our noses are almost touching. We never break eye contact. "You will not get in the way Draco. Or your family will regret being related to you. You are _inferior_ and you will not reveal me, or I will talk to our dearest Master. You will never be forgiven. Do you understand?" I say dangerously.

He shivers involuntarily. "I understand." He chokes.

I smirk and turn away. I walk from the compartment and down to find Harry.

I find him talking awkwardly to Neville. I open the door and smile as I walk in. "Hey Neville, Luna?" I call to Luna who is reading a copy of The Quibbler upside down.

She looks up and smiles dreamily. "Hello Ginny."

"How are you?" I ask sitting across from her and next to Harry. "And your Dad?"

"We're both great. He's published a story about Harry's truthfulness and proving it. Harry has a shocking lack of Wrackspurts and so, he must be thinking clearly." She says.

"I'm relieved!" I say playing along. "How was your summer?"

"Oh wonderful! Father and I went hunting for Crumpled-Horn Snorkacks! It was quite the experience unfortunately we didn't find any."

"That's unfortunate. I would love to have seen one." I say.

At one point during the rest of the ride had looked over and noticed Draco staring at me through the glass.

I glare at him and continued with my conversation.

We finally got to school and Harry and I sit in a carriage with Ron and Hermione.

"Okay, I don't even understand why you play along with Luna's delusions." Ron scoffs.

"Ron, she's not delusional." I say glaring at him.

"Yes she is Ginny. There's no such thing as Wrackspurts. All of those creatures are make believe." Hermione says looking at me strangely. "There's no proof that they exist."

"There's no proof that they don't either." I say glaring at her too. "Just because you can't see something doesn't mean they don't exist. For example, the Thestrals that are pulling this carriage right now. They exist, but you can't see them. I can and so can Harry." I snap.

They look at Harry with bewildered expressions. "I can see them." He says nodding with big eyes. "I thought I was just going crazy."

I shake my head. "Luna told me about them once. You can only see them if you've seen someone die. She saw her mother die. Harry you saw Cedric die."

"Who did you see?"

"A muggle girl." I whisper. "I was in town with Mum and she crossed the street while her Mum wasn't looking. She didn't see the car coming in time. Mum wasn't looking." I say to Ron. "That's why you've never heard it." I'm lying so badly now. "Mum and I walked away but I remember seeing her. I've been able to see the Thestrals ever since I came here for the first time. Sometimes you can even see them flying over the Forest." I look about ready to cry so Harry wraps his arm around my shoulder.

Hermione looks gob smacked. Ron is shocked.

"Wow," Hermione says. "I thought it was just magic that pulled the carriages."

I smirk. "Not everything is the way it seems. Even in magic."

**A/N Hey! Two updates in one day! Someone give me an award! No really hand it over. I'm just kidding! Anyway, I hope you like where this is going. Do you think Ginny is too creepy? Eh, well that's kinda the point. Do you like how she totally puts Draco down there? I did. He's a creep. But I love him. Please review the answers to the questions if you want anything to change and/or stay the same. Thanks guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I watch the Sorting with next to no interest. I really hate the sorting. I was almost put in Slytherin! Ick! But, then the hat told me that I would do better in Gryffindor even though I truly belonged in Slytherin.

Sometimes I think that hat can predict the future.

It can't though so I'm alright. I look over at Hermione who's chatting away with one of the new Gryffindor first years.

Ron is devouring anything edible within his reach. Harry isn't much better but he at least has enough manners to close his mouth before he swallows his food.

I pick at my food as I look around at everyone. It's weird looking around at how happy people are. I guess it's because Cedric died last year and everyone hopes that because it's a new year there should be a fresh start? It won't work out for us anyway.

Harry will have Cedric on his conscience forever, Cho won't let anyone forget, not to mention I have to call his murderer 'master'. No one's forgetting anytime soon.

But, that doesn't stop them from trying. Trying to forget what happened and move on. I catch the dirty looks Harry's getting and I know he sees them too. I also know that they get on his nerves. The star struck looks and the loathsome glares. It's hard to ignore.

I'm getting some too, I'm his girlfriend, why not? Hermione gets them and so does Ron.

Four outcasts. I'm the one with a secret, Harry's the one with the scar, Hermione's the one with the brains, and Ron, he has that quality about him. Not, the sidekick quality that he thinks it is but the loyal guy that everyone wishes were their friend but aren't willing to give him friendship in return.

It must suck being Ron. All he wants is some friends and some attention. Hey I would too if I were the youngest boy in our family. I mean Bill was the first born, he's the star of us. Charlie's tough and super cool, Percy's smart and studious, and the twins are both really funny. I'm my own person, I do what I want when I want and no one can stop me when I decide on something. So, what does Ron have?

I sigh and go back to my food. I look back up towards the Slytherin table. Draco's pale as usual but it wasn't him that caught my attention. It was Daphne Greengrass.

She and I make eye contact and we stare at each other coolly. Neither of us give at all.

I have some sort of respect for her. Then, she nods at me. I nod back as a sign of respect and we simultaneously look away.

I was friends with her little sister. Astoria was alright. Your typical Slytherin. Though she was nice enough, she still had that cold emotionless feeling to her. The thing about Slytherins is that they are so manipulative and emotionless. They're businesslike. All business and no play. The biggest thing though, that gets us Gryffindors, is that everything they say or do has a double meaning. Everything. Part of that is heritage. When it comes to Purebloods they're proper.

Gryffindors are emotional. Too emotional for me sometimes. For example, when a Slytherin messes with a first year, you have all of the seventh, sixth, _and_ fifth year Gryffindors behind that one first year. Sure, you have the teasing and bullying of first years within the house, but the whole deal about us Gryffindors is that, the teasing and bullying is purely within the house. We're here for each other. We don't abandon one another.

Slytherins leave each other for granted. It's all about independence and personal relationships. Like, Draco and his groupies Crabbe and Goyle. If Draco got hit, then Crabbe and Goyle were gonna hurt you. That is personal relationships within Slytherin house at its finest. But, if you notice, most seventh years wouldn't stick up for Draco.

While if _I_ got picked on, one, I have three older brothers still at school, a dragon keeper for a brother and Percy's from the ministry, two, I can stand up for myself especially now, and three, two of my brothers are very popular and well liked. It's like asking for an army to come for you.

Not to mention, I'm just plain loveable.

Gryffindors aren't hardy because of their brawns, or bravery, but because of their sense of family. Something that makes Gryffindor more inviting to most of the first years.

Nothing wrong with any of the houses in my opinion. I would die though, without the emotion of Gryffindor house.

To avoid suspicion, I snap out of my stupor and join in on Hermione's conversation.

"What about Quidditch?" The girl asks.

"We have a Quidditch team for each house. Are you a Pureblood or-" I'm cut off by Hermione.

"She's Muggleborn." She says glaring at me. I wince.

"Sorry," I whisper. "Quidditch is a pretty fun sport. I'm gonna be trying out this year for Chaser." I say louder.

Hermione looks at me in surprise. "I didn't know you played!"

"Ehm, Hermione? I forced you to listen to hours upon hours of Quidditch on the radio. What makes you think that I don't play?"

"Being a fan and actually playing are two different things."

"Well, I just happen to be talented!" I say smirking.

"No modesty, this one." Hermione says to the first year. "This is Rose by the way Ginny."

I cock an eyebrow. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Prefect! We're about to leave." I say smirking at Ron and Hermione as they simultaneously blush.

Harry chuckles and puts his arm around my shoulders.

Ha! Somewhere at the Ravenclaw table, Cho is sobbing.

Ron and Hermione get up to usher the first years towards the Gryffindor tower. I smirk. "When are they going to admit it to each other?" I ask Harry.

He chuckles. "No clue but they need to."

I nod towards the empty DADA seat. "I wonder where our newest professor is."

He shrugs. "I hope it's someone who's good. If we have a repeat of Quirrel or Lockhart none of us are going to survive the war."

I rub his shoulder with my left hand. "I hope it doesn't come down to that."

"Another Lockhart, and I'd rather Snape teach." Harry says darkly.

"At least Snape knows _how_ to teach though."

"Not really, have you _seen_ my potions grades?"

"Have you _seen_ how biased he is?" I ask cocking an eyebrow. "I don't know about you but I have learned _something_ from Snape. He just has issues with Gryffindors. And you."

He nods. "It's frustrating. With the whole Defense curse."

I smirk. "I find it funny though."

He looks at me weird.

"Well let's see. Quirrel, died because you touched him and forced Voldy out of his body. Lockhart, lost his memory while you rescued you me from the Chamber. Lupin, ousted himself as a werewolf when he transformed while you rescued Sirius from the dementors. Moody, turned out to be a Death Eater bent on killing you. It kinda circles around you. Have you noticed?"

He looks at me with wide eyes. "I never thought about it that way before."

I shrug as we enter the Fat Lady's portrait. "I think of things differently."

"No kidding."

"Watch it Potter."

"Come at me Weaselette."

I slap his arm playfully. "You would want that." I say with a straight face.

That wiped his smirk off his face. Even made him blush a little. "Ha! A blush! Fred! Ten galleons please!" I say walking away.

**A/N Not much to say. Other than, REVIEW! I'm bored, tired, and I want some feedback. So please, is it too much to ask for?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I wait with Hermione in the common room for the boys. I had my usual nightmare last night and I'm definitely tired.

I sit in the armchair dozing. "Ginny!"

I snap awake to see Hermione looking up from her defense book. "What?" I ask patiently.

"I thought you said you'd be better when school started!"

"It started yesterday 'Mione!"

She sighs. "Alright but this is not over."

"I'm not five 'Mione." I say pointedly.

She winces. "Sorry,"

I roll my eyes and look around. I see Harry and Ron coming. "C'mon let's go."

She nods and we stand up to walk over to them. Of course Lavender Clown walks over. "Weasley," She says walking up to me.

I glare at her. "What do you want?" I say icily making Hermione shiver.

Lavender looks put off but she continues anyway. "I've got a bone to pick with you. Your roommate Lynn? Yeah, she's my friend so back off."

My eyes flash with anger. "I don't give a-"

"Ginny!"

"Whatever!" I snap fiercely. I take a step towards Lavender. "Lynn is also my friend. And if you have a problem with that, then, too bad. ''I'll be friends with whoever I want, and I won't force her to choose. Any problems?"

Lavender turns bright red. She raises her hand to slap me. Before she can even touch me I grab her wrist knee her in the gut and put her in an arm lock. I push her elbow down until her eyes are literally two centimeters from the table.

"Done?"

She nods frantically. I let her go, give her one last icy cold glare and turn and walk out of the common room without waiting for anybody else.

I'm having a pretty bad morning so far, so when we had to deal with Umbridge's speech I almost died.

Hermione frantically whispers what the whole speech meant. I hadn't even bothered to look like I'm paying attention to the pink toad so, when Hermione explained that the ministry is going to take over Hogwarts I look back at her with a look of horror on my face.

My eyes meet Dumbledore's and he gives me a warning look. _Don't get into trouble_. His look says. I smirk.

I look at Snape, who has a very dark look on his face. He meets my eyes. I feel a nudge on my mind. I smirk and push Snape out immediately. I cock an eyebrow.

He glances at Umbridge and I know exactly what he's saying. _Give her hell._ I like that advice better.

I smirk. What did he think I was going to do? Sit there like a good little girl? That's a joke.

I turn back to the conversation. "They can't do that!" Ron shouts.

"Yes they can." I say. "They can because people think Harry and Dumbledore are off their rockers. Expose the truth somehow and Umbridge has less backing from the parents of the students."

"Thank Merlin Mum and Dad aren't like that." Ron says.

"Yeah, but they're also wrapped around Dumbledore's little finger." I say dully. "They do whatever the manipulative old bag tells them to."

"Ginny!" Hermione scolds. "This is Dumbledore we're talking about!"

"And he's more manipulative than you can even imagine 'Mione." I say coldly. "Think about it,"

I rush into the Common room, jump over Ron's legs and grab the travel radio we had set next to Harry's homework.

"Whoa calm down there." I hear Harry chuckle.

I turn the dial frantically to the right station. "And this is Quidditch Time Spectacular! Today, Holly Head Harpies against Puddlemore United!"

"Yes!" I cheer quietly. I sit next to Harry on the couch eagerly.

"And the Quaffle is up! Jones plucks it, passes to Harrison, Kennedy, Jones, stolen by Jorck, then, its Mason, Grove, back to Jones, then Kennedy, and Harrison scores!"

I cheer and pump my fist. Harry smiles at me. "You're cute Gin."

I beam and go back to the radio. Harpies score five more times and then Puddlemore manages to snake past the Keeper nine times.

"Ah! They're losing!" I say in despair.

"The Reptile Jones calls time out! There's a huddle on the ground and they're back in the air. And its Harrison, Kennedy, Jones, Harrison, Jones, Kennedy, and Oh! Harrison bowled over by a Bludger! If that doesn't bloody well cripple him I don't know what will! Let's look at the replay. There's Graham hitting the bludger and ouch! That's gonna leave a mark."

"No not Harrison!" I groan. "He was the best out there, other than Gwenog Jones of course. If Smith can't get catch the snitch in time we're gonna lose!"

Ron looks at me with boredom. "Boo-Hoo looks like the Cannons will have to win."

"Yeah right! They're at the bottom of the charts and hasn't budged an inch in five years."

"So are we gonna see you at try outs?" Harry asks me.

"Is that even a question?"

"Touché."

I smirk in triumph. "So how's Potions going along?"

They both glare at me. "How do you think?" Ron growls.

I smirk. "Just peachy."

Harry snorts and goes back to his essay. "I'm just going to ask 'Mione to fix mine." Harry says getting up to walk over to Hermione's bubble.

"Oh no, you don't." I say grabbing his hand. "Don't go taking advantage of her just because you're lazy Potter."

"But I don't know this stuff!" He whines and sits back next to me.

I grab a potions book next to me and hand it to him. I smile. "Good luck."

He scowls but takes the book anyway. I smirk in pride. I turn the volume up and listen to my favorite team struggle against one of the best Quidditch teams in the world without the aid of one of their best Chasers.

I cheer when Smith catches the Snitch. The Harpies win by ten points.

The next morning I'm pumped up and ready to become a Gryffindor Chaser. I run down the steps in a sweatshirt with a lion on the front that bares its teeth whenever a Slytherin came within three feet of me covering my mark and some tight fitting jeans.

I whip my hair into a loose ponytail and smile at Hermione as we walk out of the tower.

"Are you nervous?"

"Nervous? Please! I'm more excited than Dobby was when he met Harry."

"That's pretty excited." Hermione says smiling. "You think you're ready?"

"Yeah, unlike you 'Mione I have confidence in myself."

"That's not called confidence Weaselette." Draco says coming up behind us.

I whip around with a stony expression on my face.

He sneers. "It's called arrogance."

I snort in laughter. "Coming from Princess Malfoy the Bouncing Ferret?"

He reddens in anger. "I swear I'll tell-"

"Who? You're daddy? I'm not doing anything wrong Princess. I'm merely stating a fact." I say glaring and whipping around to stalk off. I know he got the double meaning in that.

We walk in and not even Draco had rained on my good mood. I sit next to Fred. "'Sup Weasley?" I ask cheekily.

"How's it going Weaselette?" Fred asks shoving my shoulder. "You better not be late today."

"Would never even _dream_ about it." I say smirking my Weasley smirk.

"Nice jacket." He says pulling one of the hood strings so that it was considerably longer than the other string.

I scowl. "I charmed it myself."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah Gred, You're not the only ones with skill." I say smirking. "I'm actually good at Charms. Everything else, forget about it."

"My little sis is all grown up."He says mock sniffing and pulling me into a head lock and rubbing his knuckles into my scalp.

"Gerrof me!" I say squirming out of his grip.

I scowl and fix my hair using magic. "You frustrate me."

"You wanna go little sis?" He asks standing up.

"Yeah! Let's take this outside!" I say standing up and looking up at him. He's a good foot taller than me.

We banter for a few more minutes before I end it. "Let's go Gred! Bring a jacket because its cold outside!"

He collapses into laughter on the bench and I sit next to him chuckling slightly. Harry appears across from me pointing to Fred in confusion.

I smirk in response and he chuckles. "You nervous?"

"No, are you?" I ask.

"Why would I be?"

"Why would _I _be?"

"Good point."

"C'mon Gin!" George says bounding to me and dragging me by my wrist down to the Quidditch pitch.

Fred takes my other wrist and I'm dragged off by my two older brothers.

**A/N Hey guys. Okay listen updates may get either slower or stop completely for the next couple of days to a week. I found out my best friend cuts herself and I'm about to majorly piss her off by telling someone. Anyway enough rambling about my life to people who probably don't care. Reviews? They'll make my sucky week that much better.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I mount my broom and zoom off into the air. Fred and George are hitting bludgers towards my head. They want me on the team but they want me to prove how good I am.

This is the whole point of trying out.

I barrel roll to dodge one sent by George and flatten against my broom just as I come right side up to avoid a flying concussion sent by Fred.

I put on a burst of speed to get to the Quaffle in Katie's hands. I fake her to the right and slap the Quaffle out of her hands.

I block her attempt to recover it and dive radically. I come up with the Quaffle dodging Katie's lunge. I weave between Angelina and a bludger until I finally get within scoring range. I make it past Mclaggen and into the goal posts.

"That's it Weasley you're on the team." Angelina says rolling her eyes.

"Really? Cool!" I say.

Angelina looks surprised. Harry swoops down and notices the look on Angelina's face. "Yeah she's not very cocky is she?" He says to Angelina.

She glares at Harry. "She's a Weasley."

I smirk. "I sure am. I'm also the prettiest, funniest, and most loveable Weasley you'll ever lay eyes on." I say putting a dramatic hand over my heart and bat my eyelashes comically.

"Definitely a Weasley." She says.

Fred and George appear on both sides of me and squeeze me in an awkward and painful hug.

I shove them off of me.

"Yep, Angelina, this is our younger triplet." Fred says laying an arm on my shoulder.

George nods. "She's actually the mastermind of that prank back in first ye-"

She grits her teeth and snaps. "We agreed it will never be talked about ever again!"

"Wait was that th-"

"Yes now shut up!" She snaps.

I burst into laughter and she blushes slightly. "That was one of my more brilliant moments. How old was I Fred? Nine?"

"Eight."

"You're lucky you're talented Weasley."

"Why thank you." All three of us chorus.

She slaps her face into her palm. "Bloody hell what have I done?"

Ron flies up to guard the goal posts and the twins, Harry, and I stop in mid sentence to gape at him.

The twins look at me. "Is he any good?"

"Well average, he's got a problem with nerves though. He does well at home but horribly under pressure. I don't know, anger problems too, maybe George?" I ask looking at George.

"Maybe."

Angelina looks at me. "Let's see if you're as good as you're brothers when it comes to judging skill."

I scoff. "I'm better." I smirk at my brothers and fly off.

I kick the Quaffle off the back of my heel up and over to Katie who catches it slightly surprised at how it got to her.

She passes to Angelina who passes to me. I fling it towards the left goal post. Ron makes it barely in time. He kicks it and I have to duck to avoid being hit in the face.

Angelina recovers the Quaffle and powers down the field toward Ron. I watch as she throws the Quaffle at high speed at the middle goal hoop. Ron narrowly avoids falling off his broom but he does manage to save it.

Three saves later and Ron's on the team too.

Katie looks at me. I like Katie she's pretty cool. "Oh, joy, four Weasley's."

"We're taking over. It's part of our scheme to overthrow ole Voldy _and_ Dumbledore and take over the world." I say shrugging.

"Even better." She says smirking at me.

"You're just jealous of our fabulous skills." I say as we watch George accidently hit Ron with his Beater's bat.

"Very skillful indeed."

"What'd I say?"

Laughing Katie, Harry, and my brothers, leave the changing rooms for dinner. Angelina joins in after awhile.

It's times like these that I'm truly happy and I forget about the war raging around us. We live in snippets. Little snapshots of joy in the little things before we have to go back to harsh reality, where Cedric's dead and I have a tattoo on my arm that marks me as the enemy.

Times like these that every kid who lives during a war loves. The times where they spend laughing with their family and friends. When you're allowed to forget about the difficulties you're being forced to live through and laugh freely.

And for me it's over before I want it to be.

I suggest that Fred and George invent a fake fire so that I can scare the living crap out of Draco or someone else by lighting my hair with it.

They laugh and begin brainstorming how to do it when I feel it. The harsh burning of the Mark. I grit my teeth and manage to keep my face normal through the pain. I look over at Harry who brushes his scar with his hand.

I look away and think. Does Harry know when The Dark Lord calls his servants? I know he's not calling me because I'm underage and unable to go anywhere. We walk in and I've been forcing laughter from my lips.

Snape rushes in with his beady black eyes landing on me.

"Miss. Weasley!" He snaps walking over to us.

I stare at him coldly. "Professor Greasy- Ehm." I cough lamely. "Snape."

Everyone around me snickers and Fred and George subtly pats my back. He sneers at me. "Come with me."

"Why?"

He glares at me. I know we're just putting on a show but it makes me feel kinda cold inside. "Important matters involving your training."

I scoff and follow him around the corner where no one can hear us. "Master wants you." He says.

"Alright." I say nodding. "Am I Flooing?"

He nods and leads me to the dungeons past sneering Slytherins. Astoria sees me and gives me a questioning look but I don't pay her mind.

I get to Malfoy Manor two minutes later. I'm swept up to the dining hall where The Dark Lord is waiting with all of his Death Eaters.

"Sit down." He commands. I bow and sit next to Bellatrix. She's one of my Death Eater 'friends' if you will.

"In the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry, there is a prophecy. About the Potter boy and I. It is what compelled me to attack his parents fourteen years ago. I want to hear all of it. This means, that we need to capture it." He says folding his hands and leaning forward.

I stare at him with no expression on my face. "My Lord, if I may, how would we achieve this? The Potter boy, he's smart. The boy is smart no matter how much we wish he weren't. He's not greatly talented in any way, but, he does know how to use his friends and the people around him to his advantage." I say.

The Dark Lord looks at me. I stare at him without a hint of fear but with respect. "Ginny. We might be able to use you to a more, useful position." He says thinking.

I look slightly surprised for his sake. "My Lord that would be an honor."

I listen carefully as they make plans to send a Ministry worker in to steal it by Imperius. All the time I'm thinking through what I have to say.

Three days later, I was back in the same seat listening to the outraged Dark Lord.

The Ministry worker lost all memory when he tried to steal the prophecy. Only Potter can get it from the shelf in the Ministry.

"My Lord." I interrupt. "You have a mental connection, don't you? Potter can feel what you're feeling now. If you can use your connection to make him believe that someone he loves is in danger he will try to come and save them. Then, you overpower him, get the prophecy and kill him. All in one night."

Voldemort looks at me in shock. Everyone looks at me in shock. Snape gives me a questioning glance. I know what I'm doing.

"Before you can do this, you need to almost fully take over the Ministry. We need to clear it out all guards so that Potter doesn't meet any problems before we get him." I say.

The Dark Lord looks at me appraisingly. "You may go now."

I stand, bow, and Floo back to Hogwarts. I leave the dungeons where Astoria is waiting for me. "Detention with Snape again?"

"When am I not having detention with that greasy git?"

She smirks. "When you're dead."

"Exactly."

Astoria has bleach blonde hair much like Draco's with piercing blue eyes. Unlike her sister, who has straight black hair with sharp grey eyes. If you didn't know them, you wouldn't have thought that they were sisters.

"Listen Ginny." I look at her now serious face.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad, well, he got visited by a couple Death Eaters last night." She says sighing. "He joined them." She whispers. "He joined them and Mum's going to follow. Daph and I, our lives are falling apart. We talked yesterday; neither of us wants to join up. Gin, we're old enough to decide what side of the war we want to be on. And this time around, they're not going to take neutral as an answer. We know your family lives at Head-"

I clamp my hand over her mouth and put her in a head lock. I shove her into an empty classroom. I let her go and whip my wand out. Thinking a couple incantations, we were safe.

"Don't do that." I say harshly.

Astoria looks at me as if I had said that Blast-Ended Skrewts were cute.

"Talking about it, you can't do that. The order needs to keep quiet. With Umbridge around here we have to be careful."

"Merlin Ginny, when did you get so fast? And tough?"

"Long story, and with the position you're in. I can't risk telling you. Listen to me; I'll talk to Dumbledore about separating you from your family. I'll try but I have no promises. We can't rescue your parents. It's too much risk the Death Eaters will get suspicious and worse, The Dark Lord will suspect a leak. That would be you and your family. We can't have that risk."

"Merlin," She whispers.

"I'm sorry, it's complicated."

She nods and stares at me. "When did you change?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just so, harsh, and scary observant like Daphne. But, with you it's different. It's like your life depends on it."

I smile. "I would love to tell you what's going on. But, it's not my secret to tell."

She nods. I take down the spells and we walk out of the classroom. "See you in Potions, Tori."

"Bye Ginny. Oh and congrats on making the team!" She calls over her shoulder.

**A/N Okay, a little quick at the beginning, I'm gonna hopefully be updating quicker. Things have gotten to be more stable on my end so, enjoy! Review maybe?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Professor! If she doesn't get help from us then all of them could get killed. The Greengrass' are a major power and don't forget that. They're richer than anyone we've got already. Sirius was disowned we don't have any finances. _More importantly_ they don't deserve to die."

"Just because they're your friends-"

"If it was Blaise Zabini I would help him!" I shout. "And you know how much I hate him!"

The silver haired man sits there silent, staring at me.

"You can't just ignore children. Innocent children." I press my palms on the desk and lean so that we're almost nose to nose. "There's only one thing that makes you any different from him. You manipulate, you bend until they break, but you don't condemn children to their death. Don't you understand? See it through our eyes. You are not a god."

With that I push away and walk out the door.

I walk down the corridors. I see a random Slytherin. I stop him. "Hey, get Astoria for me."

"Why should I?"

I grab his collar and bring him down to my height. "Because, I said so."

"Okay, chill Red."

I let go of his shirt and he walks off. "Don't think I didn't notice that." I say when I catch him raking his eyes up and down my body.

He smirks and saunters off.

I walk down to the end of the hall and lean against the wall next to a tapestry.

Astoria appears with an amused smirk. "So explain to me why Graham Pritchard walks up to me and says that my 'hot red headed friend' wanted to talk to me?"

"Well I'm red headed and I'm hot. Enough said."

"Prick."

"Serious time." I say crossing my arms. "Dumbledore refuses to help. So I will."

"How?"

I simply lead her to a classroom and put up the necessary spells.

"I've got, eh, connections. Anyway, I can talk to a couple people. I'll write a letter to Tonks and see if she can set you and Daphne up with a place to live. We can change your names. But, it'll be easier if you could manage to disinherit yourself."

"Merlin Ginny, I can't do that!"

"Astoria you have to. It's either get out of here or die."

She sighs and nods looking away from me.

"Look at me Tori. You won't be alone. Daphne will be there. I'll have it set up so that you and I can still communicate. You won't be amongst _all_ strangers." I say trying to offer her a slight smile. "I can't promise much, but I'll work on it."

She bites her lip and looks down. "When did my life get so messed up?"

"You don't know the half of it." I say as I take down the spells with the swish of my wand and sweep out the door.

She doesn't ask after me.

I walk down the corridors quickly.

"Hey Gin!" Harry calls after me. He runs after me and I stop so that he can catch up. "What's the hurry?"

"Well, I got into trouble with Snape a couple of corridors back and he hasn't given me detention. So I'm getting as far away from him before he changes his mind."

"Angelina called a last minute meet."

I look at him. "Why? What's up with her? The Slytherin game isn't for two weeks!"

"I think that's why. Two weeks is kind of a big deal." He says kissing my cheek.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. C'mon let's go."

We turn around and walk off towards the Quidditch field. Grabbing my broom from the broom closet and changing into my robes I jog onto the field during one of Angelina's rants.

"Weasley! Why were you late?"

"I wasn't late!" Fred, George, and Ron chorus.

"Dumbledore," I say simply and join my brothers.

Angelina turns red but instead of pursuing, knowing she'd lose, she kicks off into the air.

The team follows and practice resumes as normal. I nearly knock Ron off of his broom with a pass that hit him straight in the gut during a confusion play. "C'mon Weaselette! You can do better!" Katie calls from behind a red faced and frustrated Angelina. With a smirk on her face she watched Angelina whip around and tell her off.

I smirk and take the Quaffle from Ron. "Watch this." I say to him. He smirks.

I throw the ball hard right at Angelina. It hit her in the back of the head and she whips around. I point at Ron. Katie nearly falls off of her broom from laughter. Here's the best part, Angelina believes me.

I fly off to float next to Katie as we roar with laughter at the look on Ron's face.

"B-but it-it wasn't me!" He splutters.

"Yeah sure Ronald."

"It wasn't! It was Ginny!"

"I would never do that!"

"Oh yeah right! You just love to get me in trouble don't you Ginny!" That starts our mind numbing incomprehensible bickering.

"Shut it!" Angelina shouts. "Just get back to work!"

I take the Quaffle and as we practice I make sure to hit Ron extra hard.

Two weeks later I sat at breakfast as Ron struggled to choke down toast while Hermione begged him. I dig into an omelet.

"G'morning Gin." Harry says yawning and slipping into the seat next to mine.

"Morning, game today, excited?"

"Always, Ron?"

"Nervous wreck as per usual."

"Good to know some things will never change."

I beam at him. "You're funny." I say shoving his shoulder.

"Oh am I?"

"That's what I said isn't it?" I taunt.

He chuckles and wraps his arm around my waist. "Love you Gin."

"Love you too Potter."

I jog onto the field with Katie with mixed cheers and booing. "Hello Hogwarts Quidditch fans! As we know Gryffindor has two new players on their team, both of them Weasley's. A great family they are."

"Jordan!"

"Sorry professor. Anyway! We saw them last in the smashing Ravenclaw game! And by smashing, I mean smashing all hopes of the cup! Madam Hooch blows the whistle, and Weaselette has the Quaffle! She passes to Bell and a dodge from a bludger later Johnson has the Quaffle. A pretty girl she is."

"Jordan!"

"But Professor!"

"No!"

"Ugh, and Weaselette has the Quaffle again and ouch! That'll hurt! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

We win the game in record time thanks to Harry catching the snitch quickly. In the crowd on the ground, all of them laughing and cheering, I hear a chilling voice.

"Oh isn't it great? The chosen orphan won the game." Draco says sneering.

I whip around and meet his cold stare with mine. He's closer than I thought.

"Oh look at that, poor Drakey-poo lost the Quidditch game! Someone buy him a puppy!"

"Shut up Weaselette. You're too poor to even compare to me. Filthy blood traitor you are, and especially you, you're a two faced brat."

Before I can stop him Harry lunges at the same time that George does. Fred is being held back by the rest of the team.

"Harry! George!" I say just as Umbridge booms, "Potter, Weasley! To my office!"

Harry and George roll off of Malfoy leaving him with a bloody nose and an already blackening eye. I beam at him.

Harry touches my shoulder as he walks by. "Good luck." I mutter.

"Much thanks," He mutters back.

The next day was to say in the politest terms, fucking awful. That morning Harry stops me on my way to Defense against the Dark Arts to tell me he's been expelled from the team.

"What? She can't do that!"

"Yes she can, she's in charge of discipline. The Weasley boys, all of them but you are expelled."

"She expelled Ron too!"

"Yep. Gin; don't take it out on her. I know you well enough." He says with a small smile. "See you Love."

"Bye." I say smiling back. "No promises though."

H e smiles over his shoulder. I jog off to walk next to Collin and spread the news.

Walking into class I knew the fluffy pink toad was in a rather good mood. I sat down at a desk next to Collin. He pulls out his latest collage of pictures.

"Collin, how on Earth did you get these?"

"Well, I turned off flash on my camera and you don't really pay attention when you're with Harry."

"Git," I say smiling at him.

"Why thank you kind lady. Anyway, I'm going to try a moving collage now. You can have this one."

"Aw, so sweet. I like this one." I say pointing to a picture of me standing in the hallway obviously having been talking to someone that was cut out of the frame with Harry standing behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and his chin on my shoulder; I had stopped talking to the person and glanced at Harry. Collin had caught us at the right moment.

"You're a brilliant photographer."

"I try,"

"Who's your next victim?"

"Snape," He says with an evil smile.

I match his smile with my own Weasley version. "Brilliant, I'll help."

"I counted on that."

"Miss. Weasley! Do you mind sharing with the class what you have there?"

"Of course I do, it's none of your ruddy business." I snap back.

"Detention! Now come to the front of the class and share your unrelated item."

"You don't even know what it is."

"Then tell me what it is."

"It's," I pause dramatically. "None of your business."

"Another detention! Be careful or I might have to take you off the Quidditch team as well!"

There was Gryffindor uproar. A few Hufflepuff's joined in as well.

"I won't appreciate that. Although, if you would like to give me another bloody detention by all means go ahead with any luck I'll have detention with Sprout, Flitwick, and Trelawney. I'm not the favorite student, in case you haven't guessed already." I say smirking. "Oh I almost forgot Snape; he's always itching for a chance to get e expelled."

"Watch your mouth! That will be three detentions!"

"Toads can count?"

"Six detentions!"

"Wait, never mind."

"Nine detentions! Out of my class! Now!"

I stand up and walk to the door. "And that boys and girls, is how you turn a toad purple, without magic." I say mock bowing and leaving.

The class is trying desperately not to laugh. I hear a couple more people get detention on my way to the common room.

I enter the common room and Harry's face is stuck in a book.

"Hey Harry." I say sitting next to him on the couch and shoving my Defense book in my bag.

"You're supposed to be in class." He says smirking.

"I got kicked out." I say laughing.

"Bloody hell Gin! It's only been ten minutes!"

"I got kicked out of Snape's class on my first day in my first year in three."

"You are the twin's sister. Bloody hell. What'd you do?"

"What do I always do? I got snippy. She wanted to get into my business and I told her to shove off. She got a little angry. I also have nine detentions. I'm surprised she can count that high."

"Bloody hell Ginny You can't go to detention." Harry says grabbing both my shoulders. "She does something. She gave me a detention and made me write sentences. But, Gin, it wasn't normal. It cut into my skin." He shows me his right hand.

"Bloody hell Harry." I say grabbing his hand and looking at the words 'I must not tell lies' written on his hand. "She's using a Blood Quill. It's illegal to use on a minor unless they have parental or guardian consent."

"I don't particularly care about its legality; I don't want _you_ using it."

"Harry, I can't just skip out on my detention. I'll get into worse trouble. Why; no, I already know why you didn't tell Dumbledore. Why didn't you tell me or Hermione or Ron?"

Harry shrugs. "I dunno, I didn't think it was important."

"Harry!"

"It wasn't! When I was the only one in detention it wasn't that bad. But I'm not letting her torture you."

"You're too bloody noble." I say kissing him. "Harry, she's got power over Dumbledore. But, if she's in Askaban then she can't control Hogwarts."

"The Ministry will just send another 'representative' to Hogwarts. Probably worse than her."

"You have a point. I can handle it Harry. I know a potion that can help it though. Is it still sore?"

"A little but it's nothing."

I slap his hand and he groans in pain.

"Ha, nothing." I say smirking. "Tonight I'm making you a potion that'll help with the sting. Got that? Right after my detention." I say groaning. "Never mind. I'll tell Hermione to make it."

"Wait, you actually know the potion? Without research?"

"I study!"

"I know but it's obviously not a potion taught in class."

"So?"

"Ginny?" Hermione says walking down the steps with a precarious stack of books.

"Long story, short, Umbridge hates me and I got kicked out, nine detentions."

"Bloody hell!"

**A/N Hey guys! So I stayed up till three AM three nights in a row to give you guys this! Anyway, I have to get some sleep! Its midnight here and I have to go shopping in the morning, and not the good kind. Then at 2 I have to sit in a car for five-six hours. I might actually get another update if I'm as awesome as everyone says I am. ;) Review?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It's one of my free periods so I went back to the Common Room to find Harry sitting on a couch being anti-social.

"What's up Harry?" I say sitting in an armchair near the fire.

"What? Oh nothing." He lies badly.

"You are horrible at lying, Harry. What's up? Is it Umbridge?"

"A little bit. Really, it's been everything lately. Sirius and I can only write and even then it's not often, my O.W.L's are this year and I can't spend any time with you, I can't play Quidditch, and the nightmares have been getting worse." He says burying his head in his hands.

"What nightmares?"

"I've been having these nightmares about this door. I'm pretty sure it's Voldemort."

"Don't say his name!" I wince.

"Fear in the name increases fear in the thing itself, Gin. I won't stop saying Voldemort."

I wince again.

"Why are you so afraid of it? You're worse than Ron. You used to not mind at all."

"I dunno. Anyway these nightmares?"

"Well I feel like everything relies on finding and opening this door and I get angry every time I don't get to it. It's frightening."

"Do you think he's trying to send you a message?"

"I dunno. I feel like I've seen the door before though. I just don't know where."

"You'll figure it out." I say making a mental note to talk to Dumbledore about Occlumency.

He nods. "I hope so. I think it might be important."

"Hey, this weekend, after my detention we are going to Hogsmeade. You and I, and you can bet Merlin's saggy left buttock that you are not going to pick up a single bloody book."

He smiles at me. "Sounds cool. We're not going to Madam Puddyfoot's are we?"

I laugh. "You'd have to knock me out and tie me up in order to drag me in that place. One time, Dean took me there, and it was so awful I had to get up and leave. My hair clashed with the décor so badly." I say groaning at the memory.

Harry's smile falters a little. "I have a meeting with Hermione and Rita Skeeter."

"You're actually talking to the cow?"

"Yeah, she's writing an article for the Lovegood's magazine."

"The Quibbler? Really Harry?"

"Well, I forget!"

"Anyway, why is Skeeter writing the article? Remember that fiasco last year? When she claimed that you were cheating on me with 'Mione? Mum wouldn't talk to you for ages. She's trying to tear you down especially now, when everyone thinks you're a nut case."

"That's what Hermione's doing. No one will believe anybody but her. She's blackmailing Skeeter to write a good article and since Luna and her dad are behind me and Dumbledore, we can trust them to print an article that won't hurt."

I nod. "Hey, tonight after my detention the twins, Lee Jordan, and I are going to take a few Nifflers and put them in Umbridge's office. Wanna come along?"

"I probably should stay outta trouble."

"Ah, you're as bad as Percy!"

"And you're a child delinquent." He says ruffling my hair. I ruffle his hair in return which starts some sort of half poke war, half tickle fight.

At some point Harry ended up lying on the couch with his head in my lap playing with my hair.

"Harry,"

"Hm?"

"I need to go to my detention."

"Can't you stay a few more minutes?"

"No, I have to be there in five minutes."

"Since when have you cared whether you were late?"

He knows my weakness. "Shut up Harry." I say smiling down at him.

He beams up at me. "I love you Gin."

"Love you too Harry."

After a couple minutes of banter I shove him off of me and grab my bag. I kiss him good bye and walk slowly out of the Common Room.

"Miss. Weasley, have you ever thought of perhaps coming on time to your prior engagements?" The bubbly pink toad says.

"Why no I haven't."

"You will be writing sentences for your two hour detention. Here is your quill and paper."

I pick up the blood quill and look at it. Then, I look at her. "You realize this is a Blood Quill right?"

"Yes it is."

"And being from the Ministry you must know that this is illegal right?"

"Miss. Weasley, write your sentences."

"What is my sentence Professor Umbit-Bridge?" I say in the same sickly sweet tone she uses with the same little 'eh hem' when I 'messed up' her name.

She glares at me. "I will not disrespect my elders."

"That makes no sense Professor. I didn't disrespect my elders. I disrespected a toad." I say sweetly.

"This detention will go on for four hours now."

"Not my problem. You have to deal with me."

"Write your sentences, Miss. Weasley."

I sigh. I grit my teeth and prepare myself for the pain. I watch my hand as the words get cut into my skin and healed over repeatedly. I show no emotion as I write for hours.

I see out of the corner of my eye Umbridge watches me hungrily.

Those Nifflers are going to be my best friends.

After about three and a half hours the cuts stop healing over completely. My hand is oozing blood slowly.

I take a sharp breath and catch Umbridge stifling a giggle.

"Why don't you write sentences with this? You'd love it. One day, you will and I'll be watching." I snap.

"Miss. Weasley enough of the talking. Write your sentences and I don't want to hear anything else of you."

"Good luck with that." I say sweetly.

"You have ten detentions now."

"I don't care."

"Eleven."

"Oh so scared."

"Twelve. Should I just suspend you from Quidditch?"

I clamp my mouth shut and bite my tongue until I feel blood filling my mouth. "I'm sorry Professor for any disrespect."

"Good. You have an hour."

I bite back the correction. She's trying to get me to open my mouth.

I endure an extra half hour of torture and walk calmly out the door. My hand was dripping blood slowly.

"Gin!" Harry says appearing from thin air. I don't even blink. I keep walking towards the Common Room.

Harry catches up with me and grabs my hand. "Bloody Hell." He whispers. "I wanna kill her."

I grab his wrist. "Don't worry about it Harry. I have nine more detentions."

"Nine? I thought only eight."

"She gave me another while I was there."

"Gin,"

"I know!" I snap. "I need to learn to watch my mouth! Don't say it, Mum does that enough."

He stops walking as I sweep off in a brisk pace. "Gin," I hear him sigh as I turn the corner. "Ginny," He calls jogging to keep up with me.

"What?" I snap turning on my heel and sending him a hard glare.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"No one means to offend anybody but they do. I can't control my temper, or my mouth. So don't ask me to." I growl and stalk off.

**A/N Sorry it's late. Hope you liked it. Review? Explain to me how I can improve? Is there something you would like to see? Is this story a little different from others? I hope so.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Bloody Hell Ginny! Harry! What has gotten into you two?" Hermione shrieks as we show her our hands.

"Nothing new, really, just Umbit-bridge." I say correcting myself.

"Ginnykins got detention." Fred says from behind me.

"I heard nine detentions!" George pipes up.

"Ten actually." Harry corrects.

"That's our sister!" They guffaw.

"I'm personally rather frightened about-"

"Weaselette!"

I turn to Angelina's extremely angry voice. Katie follows with the same lazy gait I have when amused with something.

"You know, everyone calls me that, yet it was Malfoy that dubbed me Weaselette. Kinda backfired on him hasn't it?" I say to the twins who snicker behind their hands.

"Nine bloody detentions?" Angelina shouts. A crowd gathers and I just stand there. "Our team is on the rocks as it is with three, no, four, bloody players off the team! Now, I have to schedule practice around your bloody detentions because you can't keep your bloody mouth shut!"

"You say bloody a lot."

"Would you focus Weaselette? All you bloody well do is make a joke about everything! This means a lot to me! A lot to Gryffindor! You can't keep your bloody trap shut and do something for someone else for a change!"

"We were screwed from the beginning. You want my detentions lifted talk to Umbridge! Not my problem when you schedule practice!" I shout back.

"If you were any other bloody person I'd take you off the team." She growls. "But I need you Weaselette; you're too damn good for your own sake."

I was speechless to say the least. Everyone was speechless really. Angelina stalks off along with her friends.

"Beat it!" I shout at the rest of the crowd. The crowd very quickly disperses. Even my brothers run.

Harry on the other hand stood beside me like always.

With a scream I kick an armchair Hermione had vacated seconds before, four feet towards the fire. I look around at everyone. They sneak glances at me and when I meet their eyes they quickly look away.

I go to smash a table when Harry wraps me in a bear hug to keep me from hurting myself or anybody else.

"Harry let go!"

"No not until you calm down."

"Let me go Potter!" I shout.

"No Ginny."

I fight him for awhile until finally I stop seeing red. "Let me go." I whisper.

He does so and I sit on the couch more because my knees buckle from under me. I bury my head in my hands and groan. Harry rubs his hand up and down my back as I sit there. Hermione and Ron only watch.

"I'm going to bed." Hermione says snapping me from my hands. Her eyes meet mine and I can't keep the dread from my stomach. She walks up the steps.

I glance at my arm to check if my mark was showing. Nothing.

Ah fuck.

"Me too." I murmur. "G'night."

I get up and walk up the steps to my dormitory. I walk through and about to take off my jacket when I see Hermione sitting on my bed with her arms and legs crossed, watching me with a cocked eyebrow.

"Si senorita?" I say smirking.

She scoffs. "Not funny Ginny. What's going on?"

"Erm, nothing?" I say simply. "My Quidditch captain is angry, I have nine more detentions with an evil toad that likes to torture children, and um, that's it?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Then, what is it?"

"I've been watching you Ginny. You disappear every other day for hours, you have a sudden complete personality turn around, and you are suddenly so secretive yet manipulatively open. Something is going on with you and it started with your training over the summer. What is it? Are you in the Order?"

I knew it. "I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

"No."

I smile at her with pride. "I knew you'd catch on. I warned him but he didn't think you were smart enough."

She tilts her head in confusion. I walk over and sit next to her on the bed and face her. "Okay, there are some rules. One, nobody is to know about what I am about to tell you, including Dumbledore. He can't know that you know. Two, when I tell you, you can_not_ freak out. Three, listen to what I have to say, all of it. Four, you need to help me with it."

Hermione looks positively scared. "I'm scared Gin, what is it?"

I gulp. "Okay," I whisper. Then, with held breath I pull my left sleeve back.

Hermione gasps and I grab her wrist to stop her from screaming. "You promise?"

She looks into my eyes and sees something; I guess fear, or apprehension. "Okay," She whispers slowly.

"Dumbledore kinda forced me into it. I didn't have much of a choice. But, I'm a double spy. I pretend to spy on the order for the Death Eaters but I'm really spying on the Death Eaters."

"So you know all of this Dark Magic?"

"Yes. I also know Occlumency and Legilimency."

"You do?"

I nod. "That's what Dumbledore was teaching me over the summer. Mind Magic, Unforgiveable Magic, and a small amount of Wandless Magic."

"Have you killed anyone?" My silence confirms her fears. "Merlin Ginny, you've completely changed."

I look at her with despair. "Of course I have killed people. I tortured a little Muggle girl and her parents. Just to join up."

"Why'd you do it Gin?"

I hang my head slightly. "I dunno. To protect Harry I guess." I say scratching the back of my head nervously.

There was a silent streak. I didn't dare look up at Hermione. "You are quite possibly the strongest, bravest, person I know."

This shocks me. "What?" I say looking into her chocolate brown eyes.

She puts her hand on my shoulder. "You are risking your life for Harry; whether you're being a good person, or for a more selfish reason. Not only, but, you are breaking the law, something I'd never be able to do, to help a cause that you believe in even though nobody else believes that it even exists. I don't know anybody else willing to do half of that."

I stare at her. "B-but I'm a m-monster! I-I made her beg for her life! Her Mum begged for me to spare her and take her instead! I carved into their skin things like pathetic scum! How am I brave or strong?"

She looks at me with barely concealed horror. She was silent.

"A bloody double edged sword."

She gives me a small smile. "I'm glad you told me."

"You'll help me keep this from him right?"

"I'll try."

"Another thing. If he ever comes to you saying Sirius is in danger, stop him from going. Don't let him go to Sirius' rescue."

Someone comes in and I immediately push my sleeve down to cover my mark. It was only Parvati. "Promise me." I whisper.

"I promise."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much 'Mione."

She gives me a small smile and stands up. "Anytime Ginny."

She walks out and to her own dormitory. I sigh and run my hand through my hair.

"You okay Gin?" Parvati asks from her book.

"Yeah, I'm good." I say looking at her. She was always the nicer one. She didn't really hate anyone. A very caring person I think.

"I was wondering where that jacket went." Harry says smiling at me as I sit next to him at breakfast.

I was wearing one of his jackets with my hair braided over my shoulder. "You're not getting it back."

He smirks. "You look good in it anyway."

I smirk at him. "I know." I feel the slow prickle of the mark turn slowly into a burn but I show nothing.

"You okay Gin? You look pale."

"I'm fine Harry." I say hugging his waist.

I glance over at Snape who locks eyes with me. I look away over to Hermione who looks like she had had little to no sleep.

"What's up 'Mione?" Ron says with his mouth full of food.

"Gross Ron." I say scrunching my nose at him.

"Disgusting," Hermione says glancing at Ron.

"He's right though." Harry says. "You look like you haven't slept well."

"I've been studying Harry." She says convincingly. "O.W.L's."

They look slightly skeptical. "Okay," Harry says going back to his food.

I nibble at a piece of toast, using all my energy not to scream in pain.

I run my hand through my already messy side bangs. They were too short to fit into my braid.

I make eye contact with Hermione and smile at her with my eyes.

**A/N Okay, throw your rotten tomatoes, go ahead. I'm having a terrible day so go ahead and just add to it. *sighs* It's late, and rather fluffy, however not too much so. We all knew Hermione would catch on. If you didn't… YESSSSS! But if you did then, congrats ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Ginny," Someone whispers in my ear. "Wake up it's an emergency."

Hermione shakes me up. "Wuzzgoin on?" I slur sleepily.

"Your dad. He was attacked, you need to get going, and Harry had a vision."

Well gee, great!

I jump up and grab an oversized jacket and pull on a pair of tennis shoes.

"What's the deal?" I ask as she walks me down the stairs.

"Harry had a vision that he was attacked by a snake and when he told Dumbledore we found out it was truth, so now your dad's in the hospital, and you need to get to Dumbledore's office."

"Great," I say sarcastically. "Just fantastic."

I pick up my pace as we sweep off. "What does this mean?"

"It means, that he's reeling Harry in. You _have_ to keep him in check. This is not good. Part of the trap." I whisper as we walk up the steps towards Dumbledore's office.

My brothers are all pale and sweaty. I'm calm cool and collected. Ron looks on the verge of a panic attack and the twins are breathing a little too controlled to be completely calm.

Harry looks deeply shaken and I take a seat next to him as Dumbledore tells us what's going on and asks a couple of questions to Harry.

Snape locks eyes with me and I give him a glare that says exactly what I'm thinking.

We're swept off to St. Mungo's to visit him in the hospital.

Mum is sobbing in the main lobby as we enter with large dark bags under our eyes. Sirius waits with her with a stony look on his face.

I walk over to Mum and allow her to cry into my shoulder.

The twins are bothering the lady at the front desk whilst Ron and Harry sit in the corner alone talking.

I catch Harry's eye and he gives me a small smile. I know for a fact that he's been having trouble with sleep.

I sigh and pat Mum on the back. "C'mon mum, he's alright and he'll get better. As bad as it is, it's a good thing Harry had that vision."

"I completely forgot to thank him." She slurs trying to walk over there.

"No mum, he doesn't want thanks. He's been out of it lately, just give him some space." I warn her.

She looks at me long and hard and sits back down fidgeting every now and then.

They finally let us all in to go see him.

He's in bad shape but he'll recover. I stand next to Harry in the lobby.

He runs a hand through his hair. "I feel guilty."

"Why?" I ask curiously.

"In the vision, I _was_ the snake."

"So?"

He doesn't say anything more.

"You had no control of the vision, it wasn't really you. So it doesn't really matter." I say shrugging.

He looks grateful, and I continue to watch my brothers do their weird things about the hospital.

I sit glumly in the hospital until we're sent back to Hogwarts.

Snape sweeps me off immediately with a scowl. I'm again flooed to Malfoy Manor.

I step off grumbling. Pettigrew walks up to ask me if I need anything and I snap at him to go away. "Tisk, Tisk Weaselette, manners." Bellatrix says approaching me with a creepy smile.

I send her one of my more menacing smiles. "I've been up since one in the morning, don't test me."

She laughs loudly and slings her arm around me, leading me off to meet with the Dark Lord.

Bella seems to be my Death Eater 'friend'. If you can call them that. Creepy little backstabbers they are.

But she seems to think that I'm one of The Dark Lords most loyal young followers so, she took me under her wing.

So, the natural, cunning, manipulative person that I am, I molded my personality to fit hers like a puzzle piece.

If I have Bella's trust, I'll get Old Voldy's.

I'm pushed into the room and Voldemort sits in the same throne like chair. Nagini sits across his shoulders.

The minute I walk in Nagini slithers forward to circle my feet and lift itself to my eye level.

That is a huge snake. For a minute I have to fight back a few flashbacks from the Chamber.

I look Him directly in the eye as I bow lowly. "My Lord,"

He seems impressed. "Sit down."

I sit in the only chair at the long table. If there's one thing about the Malfoy's, they know how to pamper their Dark Lord.

"How was Potter's reaction?"

"He believed every second. My father is still alive, because of Potter's idiocy." I say conversationally.

He raises his nonexistent eyebrows.

"My lord," I say with a smirk. "He didn't even question why he was the snake."

He smiles an impish smile that would curl the hair on the back of any prison toughened man's neck.

I don't show an ounce of my disgust.

Nagini hisses at me menacingly. I ignore her.

"My Lord, I may not be able to come to these meetings from now on." I say relaxingly. "Dolores Umbridge, as High Inquisitor is watching the Floo networks. We're not allowed at Hogsmeade either. There's no leaving the school."

He sits there darkness seeping into his devious eyes clouding what was once red and happy. "Very well, you know what to do when it comes time?"

"Yes my Lord." I say proudly.

"You may go."

With that, I sweep past the hungry snake and slip off to Hogwarts. I have Umbridge's class now.

She actually enforces rules that Hogwarts has long forgotten that they even existed. I mean a dress code? Sure we have uniform-like crap to wear during special occasions and holidays and whatnot. But _every day_?

Then that whole house tables deal? No one cares! Why must we separate the Gryffindors from the Ravenclaws?

Gryffindors and Slytherins should, however, in every definition of the word, be separated from each other as far as possible. It's like watching two mother dragons fighting each other over their eggs.

Now _that_ is scary.

I walk into the Defense Against the Dark Arts chamber with baited breath.

This woman is crazy. I sit down in the back and throw my bag on the floor next to me. Astoria comes in and sits next to me with a small smile.

"How are things?" I ask.

"Alright, Daphne and I are getting helped out. From what I've heard my family has been visited and told about the Order and help that we can get." She says smiling at me. "You really saved us there Ginny."

"Happy to help." I say giving her a halfhearted salute.

I'm wearing a black sweatshirt that covers my arms; unfortunately, it also doesn't follow school codes. Again, I seem to have a problem with authority, I don't really care.

Umbridge walks in and immediately she decides to pick a fight with me.

"Miss. Weasley! Take that jacket off! It's against school codes."

I roll my eyes. "Do you have any idea the morning I've had? No, probably not, but I'll give you a chance to walk away." I say frustrated immediately.

"Miss. Weasley, do I have to award more detention?"

"Go right ahead," I say yawning. "Aren't you running out of Blood Quills? You've got one for Harry, one for me, one for each of the twins; you must really be breaking the law. Does Fudge know about this?"

She pales slightly but continues to pull out her wand.

Ha, idiot.

She flicks her wand at me.

Nothing happens.

She goes red and flicks her wand at me again. Still, nothing happens.

Several times she tries this. I get bored and lean back in my chair with my hands behind my head. I carefully hide the concentration I'm using to block her spells.

"Stupefy!" She yells losing her temper.

The red beam of light coming from her wand bounces off my chest singes a tapestry, and then hits a painting causing it to fall from the wall, screaming contents and all, to the ground with a big black mark in the center.

"Getting angry?" I ask cocking an eyebrow.

"Dark Magic!" She seethes.

"Dark Magic? But, dear Professor Umbridge," I say with a voice full of awe. "Magic is never dark, it is the wizard, for magic is only a means, it can neither be good nor evil, but only magic, it is the intentions that are dark and selfish." I smirk. "Besides, I'm a wee little fourth year, what real magic do I know?"

I got her. "Then how did you block all of my spells?"

"How do we know that you were sending them at all? Except for that last one, which all of us know, an easy Protego will protect us from, could have just been random flicks of your wand. Also, you just destroyed your idea that we will never need to know anything more than theory for this class. Seeing as you just proved that, had I not been an advanced student thanks to Harry Potter, I would have been on the ground dazed and confused. You see, you don't necessarily have to protect yourself from dark wizards or Death Eaters or V-Voldemort himself," I say barely stopping my stutter. "Only the creeps. Like say, you, or that creepy guy sitting in the dark corner staring at you in the local bar."

With that, I stand up grab my bag, bow lowly and leave.

I wait for an hour goofing off with Gred and Forge as we try to get the first years to try out their candies.

"Alright," I say writing down on my clipboard the results of the experiment. "You guys need to work a bit harder on the nougats. He can't stop vomiting."

All three of us wrinkle are noses at the vomiting kid in front of us.

George and I simultaneously push Fred forward. "Your problem." We chorus as we run away.

I look at the kid with the toucan beak. "Ah, the Mallard Mints. I don't know why we named it that, he isn't a duck." George says looking at him.

"Was a duck the goal?"

"Yeah, but its fine as a toucan." He says shrugging. "Does it wear off?"

"We'll find out." I say with a winning smile.

"So how did you get kicked out of class today?"

"Umbridge," I say like that explained everything.

It does. "That's why." He says laughing. "Mum will kill you."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure she's taking me up with Dumbledore, because I'm such a trouble student."

"I'm so proud." George says wiping his wet eyes on his sleeve. "My little sisters first encounter with the Headmaster."

"It's not the first time." I say defensively.

"For trouble, yes it is. It's about time you did too."

"Yeah, yeah," I say shoving him. "Here's your clipboard. I've got Potions. Snape'll eat me alive if I skip today."

"He'll eat you alive if you show up." He says smirking.

"Hell, he'll eat me alive if I stand still long enough." I say chuckling as I leave through the Portrait Hole.

Walking to the dungeons is always a depressing adventure.

I'm so glad I have my sweatshirt.

I walk inside the damp room and sit down next to Kelsey. "Long time no see eh?" I say smiling at her.

"Ginny!" She squeals latching onto me.

"Whatever," I say shoving her off of me as we take a seat on the stools in front of our cauldron. "I guess you saw me get kicked out of Umbridge's class?"

"Yeah, that was awesome." She says smiling at me. "I'm a wee little fourth year, how should I know?"

She laughs at the quote.

Snape snaps at us to shut up and we laugh a bit quieter. We have class with the Ravenclaws so we move a lot quicker than we should because of the large amount of studious people.

The potion turns a sickly green color. "Miss. Weasley, I wouldn't expect much better from you, your potion should be a light shade of lavender."

"Yeah it's looking a bit green Gin." Kelsey says giggling.

"You're the one who made it turn green." I grumble.

Snape slaps the back of both of our heads. "Ow," We chorus. "That's not fair."

"Many things would not have happened had the world been _fair_." He says slickly sweeping off to bully someone else.

Then, in comes the great pink toad. I groan under my breath. "I thought we got rid of her an hour ago." I grumble within earshot of Snape.

He looks at me and his lips twitch just slightly before he turns to Umbridge. "May I help you Dolores?"

"Did ya see that? He almost _smiled_." I say to Kelsey.

"He's drunk." She says flatly.

"No, he doesn't smell like alcohol."

"He's high."

"He doesn't smell like drugs either. Besides, I doubt they'd let a drug addict teach."

"They let a Death Eater. They let a fraud, they let a werewolf, not that he was bad, Lupin was the best, they let that thing teach, why not a druggie?"

"He would, again, smell like drugs."

"Depends,"

"His pupils would either be dilated or contracted. They're normal sized."

"Well maybe he just went bat shit insane, huh, Ginny?" She says looking at me like I frustrated her. "He hates you; he clearly is not in the right state of mind."

"Oh shut up." I say turning to pay attention to the conversation.

"Oh continue with your class Severus, I'm only an observer." She says sweetly.

"Yes," He says suspiciously. "Miss. Weasley, your potion."

I look back at my potion that is now orange.

"Ah, do something, it's about to explode." I say grabbing my wand from the counter as the potion very quickly turns from gold to yellow.

I tap it a couple of times in quick succession. The liquid suddenly becomes a deep purple.

I look proud of myself until someone across the room speaks up.

"What the-"Their question turns into a scream as bright white liquid explodes spraying itself all over the classroom.

I throw a quick shield up around me and everyone near me before it gets to us.

"Switching spell?" Kelsey breathes into my ear.

"Yep,"

She slaps her face into her hand. "Wow Ginny."

"Twenty points from Ravenclaw! And I will see you in detention."

I look around at the people that got hit by the potion all of whom were growing green hair so fast that they look like hairy gorillas already.

"Thanks Gin!" Collin pipes up from behind Kelsey and me.

"Welcome," I say smirking at the screaming kids.

"They look like Cousin Itt!" Collin says laughing.

"What?" I say looking at him curiously.

"It's a muggle television show, called the Addams Family. There's a character made only of hair that reaches from the top of his head to the floor. Just like that." He says pointing at the student who got the most of the potion.

"Fantastic." I say looking at them.

"Class is dismissed." Snape grumbles as he and Umbridge try to contain the disaster area.

Those that didn't get hit shuffle out the door. It's a rather small handful of people, thanks to my switching spell and shield charm.

"Thanks Gin!" Collin and Kelsey cheer as they slap me on the back.

I give them a cheeky smile. "No problem. Hey Collin, how's the latest collage?"

"I've done one all on Snape." He says as we sit down in a circle of armchairs near the fire.

"This should be good." Kelsey says smirking.

"You two should be a tag team or something. Kelsey would write the article and Collin would be the photographer. No Kelsey writes a book about us." I say sarcastically.

"Make us solve crimes."

"Not even, we should be ghost chasers, for the Muggles you know, Collin would be the truly crazy one and I'll be the snarky, sane one with just a _dash_ of awesomeness." I say smirking at Collin.

"Right," Collin says agreeing with me. "Hear that incomprehensible static? That's the ghost saying to get out or he'll kill us all!"

"Nah, it's just Peeves." I say shoving his shoulder. "C'mon, Snape!"

He grabs a big piece of poster board with a load of random photos of Snape.

"Is he picking his nose?" I say looking at one of them closely.

"No, it just looks like it." Collin says laughing. "Of course that's the one you notice first."

"Well, yeah, it's potentially humiliating, I am related to the Weasley twins for a reason you know."

"Right," Kelsey says laughing. "Speaking of, when's your next prank?"

"We're targeting Cho Chang, I believe. They've been working on this Mallard Mint, and we're going to slip it in one of her Mint bags from Honeyduke's and see what happens from there." I say with an evil smirk.

"That's interesting." Collin says scooting away from me. "Never getting on your bad side."

"Oh it's worse if I'm actually angry at you." I say smiling. "The twins and I can be extremely devious."

**A/N Hey guys! Gorsh I'm so sorry! Two months! Ouch man, that's harsh. But, I have this chapter now, and because I forced myself to write this, I'm now starting to get re-inspired to write HP. I've been focusing mostly on my Hunger Games Fanfic so, yeah. Maybe I'll be nice and try and get a second update for ya'll between later today and sometime over the next week or so.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_It's the last Quidditch match before the holidays. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, so, you can bet your sweet ass that it's not going to end very well._

_I've stopped having to go to the Death Eater meetings and Draco and I have been avoiding each other pretty well. Unfortunately, the feud between Umbridge and I has been, well, interesting._

_I help the twins and Lee Jordan levitate Nifflers into Umbridge's office._

_Yeah, she doesn't appreciate it all that much._

"_What if we decorate her office in Slytherin colors?" I say looking at Harry and the twins excitedly. "She'd assume it was the Slytherins. She wouldn't think that it was us."_

"_Yes she would, she hates us, but it's worth it." George says thinking as if he tastes the idea on the tip of his tongue. "Yeah, let's try it Fred."_

_Fred shrugs vacantly._

"_What's up Fred?" I ask arching an eyebrow. "Got something on your mind?"_

"_Or, Someone?" George says deviously._

"_shut up," Fred says shoving George away from him._

"_Well, we know you aren't nervous about the game, who would be?"_

"_Who're you talking about?" Harry asks confused._

"_Fred's got a bit of a crush. My question is, if you like her all that much why didn't you just get together at the Yule ball last year? You and Angelina did go together you know." I say logically._

"_Shut it," Fred says glaring at me._

"_What're you gonna do? Prank me? Beat me up? Fly better?" I say laughing._

_He narrows his eyes at me._

"_Yeah, Freddy, what would you do?"_

"_Prank her." He grunts._

_Fred winces. George laughs loudly. "Good luck with that, you're on your own with that one."_

"_What's so special about pranking Ginny?" Harry asks._

"_Wow, Harry, do you not know me at all?" I ask. "They're scared."_

"_That thing is one devious little imp. Scary, and ruthless." George says stepping away from me._

"_Alright everybody! Gather round. Okay, Harry, it's pretty sunny so you could probably do better higher in the air, Fred, George, the Slytherins have some pretty nasty Beaters, but I want you to aim for Malfoy."_

"_No problem." They chorus._

"_Ginny, Katie, we're going to try out that triangle formation Katie came up with a couple of months ago, I know we haven't developed it very well, so let's develop it here. I want to lay off Ginny a bit, because the Slytherins especially know that she's our strongest pillar. So Ginny, create some damn good fakes."_

"_Got it," I say leaning back and waiting for her long and winding pep talk._

_From what Harry the twins and Katie say, she got quite a few of them from Wood._

_Finally we're let out._

"_Freedom!" I say yawning as I make the twins wake up from their nap._

"_Let's beat the-"Fred starts. "Wait, who're we playing again?"_

"_Ravenclaw?" George says scratching his head. "Ah we'll find out when they announce us. Depending on how many boos we get."_

"_Right." Fred says grabbing his broom._

"_Ladies and Gentlemen prepare for the best team out there! Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan's only slightly biased announcement shouts into the roaring of the audience._

_I can hear the roaring of Luna Lovegood's hat._

_She's a mutual friend of mine. Ever since Harry, Ron, and Hermione set up Dumbledore's Army Luna and I have been working together seeing as we're about the same level of magical ability. Not to mention size._

_We're both kinda small._

_However, she's nice and definitely a riot to talk to. She's teased and bullied a lot and I really feel bad because it's almost like she doesn't even realize that it's supposed to make her feel bad._

_We zoom out and into the air fists raised high and cocky smirks held in place._

_Katie, Angelina and I huddle together with Ron. "Alright, first things first. Ginny, you get that Quaffle and make a dash, don't stop. Just trust that Katie and I will be there. Make a show I know you're good at that. Ron, you keep on your toes."_

_We bump fists and we get into position. Angelina and the Slytherin captain shake hands attempting to crush the others hand._

_I look up over at the other centre Chaser. He's waiting for Hooch to send the ball into the air._

_He notices me staring and smirks. I smirk as well and give him a saucy wink distracting him long enough to get the ball when Hooch blows her whistle._

_Seconds._

_That's all that it takes for me to grab the Quaffle and nearly knock lover boy there off his broom._

_I fly faster than virtually anyone there before they catch up after the initial shock._

_I dodge a pretty nasty looking bludger. I fake to the left, barrel roll my broom, and drop the ball._

_I want to laugh at the looks on everyone's faces. Ginny Weasley actually dripped the quaffle._

_Ah, wait, because there goes Katie right below me quaffle in hand. She tosses it up and over to the right back to me._

_I don't catch the ball but merely push it off to Angelina who slams it into the right goal hoop._

"_Fascinating play by the Gryffindor girls! Ten points to Gryffindor!"_

_The Slytherins now have the quaffle._

_Angelina signs Katie and I our directions. Basically, I just have to make a show to distract them._

_Not a problem. Let's get creative._

_I zoom up into the air and then fall backwards my broom clenched tightly to my chest._

_I fall a lot like a leaf falling from a tree, flipping around, spinning, and just falling. The Slytherin chasers have to break formation to avoid crashing into me._

_Angelina scatters two of the Chasers and Katie grabs the quaffle without problems._

_I stop my dizzying fall and zoom off towards the goal post fearlessly not bothering to weave in and out. The Slytherins may be cunning, but us Gryffindors, we are something else._

_Katie flies close behind me as I pave the way to the goal posts. One of the Slytherins manage to separate us, but Katie shoots the ball to me and I fake to the right and pass the ball to Angelina who passes to Katie, who passes back to me, then I score in the right goal hoop._

"_The Gryffindor Girls never cease to amaze, this is why Gryffindor is that much better than Slytherin-_

"_Jordan!"_

"_Sorry Professor McGonagall. Only making a point."_

_I want to laugh but I need to focus._

_Slytherins ball again. They manage to snag a score because of Ron's nerves._

"_C'mon Ron!" I shout to him before I get the quaffle. "Don't listen to em."_

_The Slytherins were singing Weasley is our king again._

"_Hear that Weaselette?" Lover boy says with a smirk. "They're not just singing for your brother."_

"_I know, glad that you idiots have finally learned to recognize talent." I say cheekily._

_I grab the quaffle. "Just try and catch me."_

_Now is not the time to force myself across the pitch._

_I weave in and out narrowly dodging the warfare going on above me and the warfare going on all around me, I enter my own world and I dip below the plane that the Chasers usually stay around and fly below them._

_I toss the quaffle over my shoulder to Katie and use both hands to narrowly avoid a collision with the Slytherin Captain._

_He's huge and would have knocked me right off my broom._

_I shoot up in time for Angelina to punch the ball to me. I catch and sling it right between the Keeper's fingers._

"_That's our little Weaselette! Scoring Gryffindor points on pure skill! I swear she'll be the one to go pro after Hogwarts!"_

_I raise my fist to cheers from the mostly red and gold stadium. Luna's lion roars particularly loudly._

"_Nice!" Harry says from a bit above me._

"_Where's the snitch Potter?" I say teasingly._

_He smirks and dashes off a little too quickly for someone who hasn't had the snitch in his sight for a bit._

_Draco tries to follow, but doesn't get very far._

"_Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins one hundred eighty to ten! That's right! Eat it Slytherin! Yes!"_

"_Jordan!"_

"_Sorry Professor, yeah, yeah, detention, I know."_

_I laugh aloud and wink at Lee Jordan who salutes me with a smirk._

_I fly to the ground and the team hugs and blah, blah, typical happy things related to victory and crushing whatever hopes the Slytherins had at the House Cup. Seeing as Ravenclaw is going to be heading off against Hufflepuff before Easter and then its Gryffindor against the winner._

_I high five Neville. "Nice plays." Hermione says excitedly. "I've no clue if they were really good or not, they looked cool though."_

_I laugh at her. "They were good 'Mione don't worry."_

_She laughs and hugs me._

_The twins take turns crushing my ribs._

"_Saved Weasley's neck didn't you Potter?" Draco says white with anger. "Never seen a worse Keeper. Then again he was born in a bin. Did you like my lyrics?"_

_I give him a glare that would chill anyone's blood. Harry stiffens beside me._

"_I wanted to add a few more verses! But we couldn't find any rhymes for fat and ugly."_

"_How about Malfoy?" I say smirking._

"_We thought about using his mother,"_

_Fred and George tense as well, I can see Fred's fists clench._

"_Or useless loser for his father." Draco says smirking at the reaction he's getting._

_Bones shall be broken. "But you like the Weasley's don't you Potter? Spend holidays with them and everything, even date that thing."_

"_This thing is actually quite attractive thank you very much." I say smirking._

"_I don't know how you stand the stink, but I guess when you've been dragged up by Muggles even the Weasley's hovel smells okay."_

"_Leave it," Angelina says grabbing Fred's arm. "He's just upset over the loss. The jumped up little-"_

_Harry grabs George and I help him as it takes Katie, Angelina, and Neville to hold back Fred._

_Hermione has a firm hand on my shoulder. "Don't move a muscle; you can do some pretty serious things. Things that can get you landed in Askaban." Hermione breathes into my ear._

_She's right._

"_Impressive vocabulary for the incredible bouncing ferret." I say with a lopsided grin._

_Draco steps up his game. "Or perhaps, you remember what your mother's house stank like and the Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it-"_

_I try to grab Harry's arm but he yanks out of my grip and let's George go, as they both sprint and launch themselves onto Draco._

_Hooch has to use the Impediment Jinx to separate them._

"_What are you two doing?" Hooch bellows. "Head of House office now!"_

_Draco is curled up whimpering with a bloody nose._

_Harry is struggling to get up._

_I silently help him and George up. I shove them through the crowd and towards the exit._

_They're both too furious to move so I have to shove them to McGonagall's office._

_I stop there and pat them both on the shoulder. "You could've at least broken a bone or something you know. But I guess a bloody nose is good enough. A broken rib woulda been ideal." I grumble stalking off to the common room._

Harry and the twins look extremely depressed as we trudge off to the Quidditch match. "Aw c'mon cheer up guys!" I say with false cheer. "it's the last match of the season, and we're a dead ringer to win!"

"Yeah," Harry mumbles.

"We have detention later anyway." Fred says sadly.

"So do I," I say my hopes going downhill.

"Are you playing Seeker?" Harry asks trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, Dean is taking my place." I sigh. "I'd rather be Chasing though."

The match is relatively boring. I find the snitch eventually, but I spot a million flaws in Dean's game.

I trudge off the pitch with Harry, Fred, and George. We walk to the new Discipline Room.

There's a rather large group of older students, half of whom are in the DA, waiting to get started.

Then it's four hours of writing and gasps of pain. Harry and I awkwardly walk back to the Common Room.

We walk to separate ends of the Common Room.

"Are you and Harry having problems?" Hermione asks as we watch Harry seclude himself.

"I don't know." I sigh. "I can't tell if it's a relationship problem or if Harry is having, well, Harry problems."

Hermione nods. "The boys overheard them talking about the fact that Harry might be possessed by Voldemort."

I wince. "Really? Is that why he will barely come near me?"

"I guess. He won't look at anyone." Hermione says shrugging.

"It's stupid." I spit. "He's not being possessed."

"How would you know?"

I give Hermione a glare. "R-right." She stutters looking away."I forgot."

"Lucky you."

It's Hermione's turn to wince. "I don't get it though."

I run my hand through my hair and turn away from the pathetic sight of Harry.

"It's his plan." I whisper. "It makes sense though. One Harry, feeling alone, isolated, no friends, no _help_. Not as threatening as every bloody wizard at Hogwarts. He's falling right into his plan."

I'm choking on emotion here.

Hermione looks horrified. "How do we help?"

"Keep him from being isolated. Calm his temper, and get him to focus on Occlumency."

"Ginny, his Occlumency is with Snape. Snape is not teaching him right. He isn't going to get the hang of it." Hermione says pleadingly. "you should help."

I shake my head. "I'll blow my cover."

"We all know Gin that you can come up with a plenty good excuse to know Occlumency."

"Actually not really." I say glaring at her. "If he gets angry or does something wrong, he can plunge into _my _memories. Not only would it blow my cover, but it'll make me look disgusting, not to mention some serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, on Potter's part."

"Potter?"

"H-Harry," I sigh burying my face in my hands. "Next thing you know I'm gonna call you a mudblood."

She looks at me with pity in her eyes.

"Don't pity me, I brought it onto myself."

"Partially, but Dumbledore also kinda maneuvered you into it too." Hermione says logically.

"Whatever." I say hollowly.

"I'm going to go talk to him."

"Good luck to you." I say curling up by the fire.

I don't bother to try and study, or even make an attempt at the ten inch essay due tomorrow for History of Magic on the Great Goblin rebellion of fourteen thirty three.

I have to practice the latest charm in Charms class as well.

I don't feel like it.

I pull out my DA galleon to check the date. We have one last meet before the O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. I just have a major exam.

We practice everything we've been taught over the year. Luna and I walk through the hallway together to avoid suspicion.

"Look its Looney Lovegood!" An annoying third year from Slytherin jeers.

I flick my wand disinterestedly hoisting him up in the air by his belt loop and hooking him on a light post.

Peeves scoops in cackling. He notices the student and starts shooting him with ink pellets.

"Thank you Ginny. No one's every really stood up for me." Luna says vaguely.

"No problem. You're not crazy, just unique."

She laughs slightly. "Everyone is unique in a way. Except the people who try to blend in."

"Brilliant. I should shrink you and keep you in my pocket so I can get Luna's Wise Word of the Day."

"Unique."

I laugh. "See ya round Luna."

"Bye Ginny."

Luna is definitely unique. I walk into the Common Room to start up a card game with my brothers when they come bounding up to me.

Fred lifts me up into a hug.

"We're gonna miss ya sis," Fred says happily.

"But it's time we go!" George finishes.

"We're going out with a bang." Fred continues.

"You take care!"

"Keep things rated PG thirteen with that Potter Punk." Fred warns.

"And make Umbridge's life a living-"

There's a deafening boom.

"That would be our swamp." George says excitedly.

We run down the corridor to find a huge mucky swamp and one rather large pink toad about to blow her lid.

Professor Flitwick looks rather amused however.

The twins high five.

"Nice!" I say giving them high fives as well. "Don't worry I will carry on your tradition."

The next day is rather wild.

A couple of hours into my final exams and there are huge explosions coming from all over the castle.

Then, the door bursts open letting in a giant firework dragon.

The twins fly in on their brooms cheering and laughing.

They zoom out and everyone gets up to follow them. We watch as the crash through a window driving Filch and Umbridge up the wall. The dragon attacks Umbridge and glass showers the both of them.

"Goodbye Hogwarts!" Fred shouts.

"Quite a fun time," George continues.

"Unfortunately,"

"It's time to move on,"

"We will never forget you,"

"Remember us well."

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes shall open in a few months!" Fred shouts waving at the crowd.

Then, they zoom off high fiving.

The crowd is cheering louder than ever.

"Weasley Twins! Weasley Twins! Weasley Twins!" The crowd cheers.

"Yeah!" Lee Jordan and I high five.

"Mum'll have their heads." I say laughing. "Stupid, stupid, twins."

Lee laughs as we're hurried inside to finish our tests.

I have to say, when it comes to my brothers, they are definitely creative, and rather flashy.

I'm gonna have to one up them now.

**A/N Hey! Second update today! You should be very grateful. I almost had to delete the whole chapter because of complications, but! I came through for you guys! Enjoy, and review please?**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Ginny!" Hermione calls running over to Luna, Neville, and I as we walk down the hallway. "It's Snuffles, and Harry, but mostly Snuffles, and Harry too, but,"

"What happened?" I sat grabbing her elbow.

"Harry collapsed in the History O.W.L.'s and he saw Snuffles being tortured by Voldemort." She whispers frantically. "Just like you said it would happen."

"Shit," I say grabbing Hermione's arm and sprinting down the hallway.

Luna and Neville hesitate, but decide to follow us anyway.

We find Harry pacing like a caged panther in an abandoned classroom.

"Harry," I say walking in and sitting next to Ron. "What're we gonna do?"

"We?" He says hotly. "We aren't going to do anything _I_ am going to go rescue Sirius."

"_You?_" I say equally hotly. "Are you kidding me? If you think I, if any of us; are letting you go alone, you're mad."

Harry clenches his jaw. It's cute, but now's not the time.

"At least make sure that he actually is gone, and not a gimmick." Hermione adds.

"How?" Harry booms.

Almost everyone in the room but Luna and I flinch. "Well isn't it obvious?" Luna says airily. "Umbridge's office of course."

I smile at her. "It's just like a game of Quidditch," I say looking at everyone else. Luna and I are already on the same page. "Divide, distract, and conquer."

"Who do we need to divide her from?" I say as if I were teaching a class. "Filch, and her kiss ass club."

"How do we do that?" Harry says.

"Distraction. If there's one thing Fred and George taught me, it's that it doesn't take much to distract someone. So I've got a few experimental pranks to try out. Luna, Neville and I, distract, Harry gets to the fireplace, and you two stay and guard. It's simple and pretty elementary but it'll work."

"Alright, let's go." Harry says eagerly.

"I'll take care of the kiss ass club." I say to Luna and Neville.

We burst into sprints as we go off.

I cackle with my wand in my hand.

"Hey Malfoy!" I say with a charming smile. "That's right disgusting Weaselette talking to you. I'm talking to you!" I shout almost bipolar-like.

He turns around from his group of friends.

I stalk towards him a gleam in my eye. I flick my wand, there's a boom and he and his friends are sent flying apart.

I flick my wand again and Crabbe and Goyle are sent backwards from their recovery.

I pull a small purple pouch from my pocket. I throw it into Draco's face.

He screams as the entire corridor turns black. I laugh, "Come and get me Malfoy!" I say walking through the black and running down the corridor adjacent to it.

I hear Draco and his cronies stumble after me shouting, "Get her you idiots, get her!"

I sprint around knocking people over and laughing.

Peeves joins in throwing water balloons at the kiss ass club as I slide down a banister kicking only the Slytherins on my way down.

"Incarcerous!" Draco shouts seething in rage.

I dodge the spell relatively easily. He tries three more times before he finally catches me.

"Bout damns time." I say cheekily as he pushes me towards Umbridge's office.

Little does he know, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ought to be there to free me.

Then there's Neville and Luna tied up just like me being led by the other two people we were trying to distract.

"You too eh?" I ask chuckling.

Neville presses his lips together in a thin line and Luna looks dazed but slightly exhilarated. We're shoved inside to find Harry Ron and Hermione caught in the act.

They're bound just as quickly as we were.

"Sit down Mr. Potter."

Harry sits down. Snape comes in a few minutes later. "Yes, Professor, I need a bit of that Veritaserum you let me borrow when I was interrogating those students."

"You used it all." Snape says looking over at us. He locks eyes with me and one glance from me tells him everything he needs to know.

"He's in trouble." Harry says desperately. "He has Padfoot."

Snape stares at Harry.

"Severus do you have any clue what young Mr. Potter is talking about."

Snape looks at Umbridge with an impartial look. "No, I haven't the slightest idea." He says through his teeth.

With that, Snape is gone.

Great, looks like I've got a situation to take care of on my own.

Finally. "I guess I'll have to take things into my own hands. I have no choice after all. Mr. Potter if you won't cooperate, I'll be forced to use, the Cruciatus curse."

"That's bloody illegal!" I hear myself speak.

"The Minister will understand that I had no choice." She says drawing her wand to point it at Harry.

"Wait!" Hermione says loudly. "Wait, we'll show you."

"Show me? Show me what?"

"Dumbledore's secret weapon," She says desperately.

Umbridge looks really creepy as Harry and Hermione leave to show her Grawp. Hagrid's giant half brother.

Draco struts around to come and look at me with a stupid smirk on his face. "Look, it's the Weasley filth… look at you now, tied up and unable to move. Shouldn't have pissed us off."

He continues insulting me while I work my hands around to reach Crabbe's pocket, where my wand resides.

Slowly I cut through the ropes holding me captive.

"See Malfoy," I say smirking. "I may be filthy and smell disgusting, but at least I have a half a brain."

He's blown across the room with one hell of a bat bogey hex. I whip around. With a quick cutting curse Crabbe trips over his pants around his ankles.

I stun Goyle quickly. I paralyze Crabbe as he struggles to pull up his pants and slam Filch into the wall; I cut Neville's ropes before Millicent Bulstrode grabs a hold of me.

She pins my arms back and lifts me off the ground.

Neville attacks her setting me free as he wrestles her to the ground.

I cut Ron and Luna's ropes easily as Neville takes on Bulstrode and Theodore Nott.

"Impedimenta!" Luna says mildly.

They blast apart and Ron and I quickly paralyze the Slytherins. I help Neville up. "Nice job." I say patting his shoulder. "You could work on your punching, but otherwise nice."

He smiles at me awkwardly. "Thanks Gin."

"C'mon they're in the forest." Ron says leading them as they run out.

On my way out I get an idea. I grab the collar of Draco's shirt. "This is my time to shine; you're not taking this away from me."

I shove him back to the ground and run after them.

"How are we going to get there?" Harry snaps pacing through the clearing in the forest.

"Thestrals," Luna says simply petting one of the creepy creatures that had appeared at her side.

I look over at Harry. "Are you absolutely sure that Sirius is in trouble?" Neville asks scratching the back of his head.

"Kreacher said that he wasn't there."

"Let's go then." Ron says turning around. "Where are the Thestrals?"

"All around us." Luna says dreamily. She grabs Ron's hand and sets it on a Thestrals head. "See?"

Hermione looks at me with a scared look on her face. "Let's go." Harry says determinedly.

Luna and Harry help everyone onto a Thestral I jump onto one right behind Hermione.

We lift off the ground and the wind drowns out our conversation. "How are we going to get out of this one?"

"Kill them, the Death Eaters I mean." I say shrugging. "We have to get out quickly."

"K-Kill them?"

"What are you willing to do to save Harry's life?" I snap. "Because I'm pretty damn sure that I'm willing to kill a few people trying to kill us."

Hermione hesitates but nods in the end. "Only if we absolutely have to."

"We probably will." I mutter.

Hermione chooses to ignore it but I can see the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. We fly through the air; I can see the little Muggle towns as we pass by.

"I wonder what we look like from there. Depending on who it is, we might be riding on air." I say curiously.

"Or on a dark Pegasus." Hermione says shrugging. "If they've seen death."

"They're kinda cute if you really look at them."

"I forget that you can see them too."

"Lucky you,"

We're quiet the rest of the way. Everyone else has this concentrated look on their face, and Harry looks downright furious, it seems Hermione and I am the only ones who were talking at all.

An hour later we finally land in London.

Harry stumbles quickly to the pay phone that leads to the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

"We'll have to go in pairs." Harry says entering and dragging Neville in with him.

They get their badges and are whisked off.

"C'mon Luna," I say grabbing her elbow as we both simultaneously step towards the phone.

"Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood visiting the Ministry." I say clearly into the phone.

The badges come out with a ding and we both make a grab for it in synchronization.

Then we're whisked away as well. We both stumble out looking a little dizzy; although Luna always looks slightly dazed she has a frightening clarity about her that makes you want to trust her. Like a rock in a storm of chaos.

Harry waits impatiently his eyes opened wider than usual, Neville looks downright panicky knowing that anything could happen.

I'm not sure quite what I look like, but I can only hope that I look calm but weary. I know what could happen and I haven't quite figured out how to play it.

Hermione and Ron arrive looking awkward and dizzy. Ron looks prepared for the worst; although we all know when the time comes he won't step up. He's one to fall back on, not stand behind.

Hermione looks what I hope, is a mirror of myself. Seeing as she knows what's truly going on, she knows that it's a trap. She knows that it's my trap and that we're going to have to navigate out.

Which gives me an idea.

Harry leads the way to the Department of Mysteries where a team of Death Eaters await for Harry to remove the Prophecy from the shelf, only to steal it and kill him.

They don't know that he brought a whole host of people. Luckily I hadn't planned for that. I know that Harry has the most loyal friends around, but he has a stubborn streak. Well, so do us. I knew he'd bring friends because in honesty what is behind the scar? Voldemort's powers, but nothing else of any real substance.

Harry is not honestly, extremely talented. Anyone taught at the right pace can learn anything. What are special about Harry, are his friends. That's how I planned on getting him out.

Hermione drops back. "I'm getting nervous." She whispers.

"We have to work together. That's the only way out."

"Is that it? No huge demonstration? No anything? Just teamwork?" She says shocked.

"I didn't design it for any specific way out, I designed it so that if three people worked the right way, knowing your thought processes which way is the most likely, could make it out with only minor injuries. No, major design flaws would have been spotted. We have to do this right. Seeing as there are six people with relatively good training, we should be even better than before. Besides Snape is probably alerting the Order now." I growl.

She backs off and we arrive at the door. "This is the door." Harry says in awe.

He reaches out and opens the door to reveal a dark and somewhat damp corridor with a seemingly magical and modern Muggle look.

"High tech," Hermione says touching the black marble wall to have bright, neon, blue wave of light ripple from her finger tip.

"What's that?" I ask stupidly.

"Modern Muggle technology really advanced." Hermione says in awe.

"It's a phrase." Harry chimes in distractedly.

I nod in understanding. We walk along with our wands raised; Harry has a light for the front of the corridor and Luna keeps hers illuminated for the back.

I step quickly into what seems like a dueling stance keeping my eyes trained on the back of Harry's head, so that if anyone were to attack, they would assume I was getting into position to take out Harry, stupid I know, but it saves an explanation.

We come to a room with light blue waves of light rippling from the black marble walls where multiple doors stood in a circle around us. Then, the floor moves shutting the door behind us and rotating all of the doors, they look identical giving us no idea of what door we are facing.

"Great what do we do now?" Ron asks raising his wand.

"We try each of the doors." Hermione says. She opens a door.

Inside is incredible. You can see every ounce of space, the planets and the stars and the galaxies and everything move and flow through this little door. A comet flies past it startling Hermione and causing her to jump back, slamming the door.

"How do we know which ones we've tried?" Neville asks.

Hermione mutters something under her breath and a golden light shines from her wand marking the door with a golden X.

"Great, flashback central," I mutter looking away quickly.

That's the spell Tom Riddle used to tell me that I was going to die, and just who was going to kill me.

I can see the light forming on its own into the sloppy chicken scratches that was Tom Riddle's handwriting forming the words 'You are going to die, at the hands of Lord Voldemort' I can hear Riddle's laughter ringing in my ears.

I don't close my eyes. Trying to block it out makes it worse. I only follow with my eyes as Ron bravely walks up to another door.

"It's locked!" He grunts as he tries to muscle it open. "Alohomora! See? It's locked magically."

"Hold on," Harry says pulling a switch blade. "A gift from Sirius." He says at my questioning look.

Well that answers my question. What does it do? Unlock doors?

Apparently.

He shoves it into the doorframe trying to get it unlocked when he pulls it out with a cry. "Ow! It burns…"

He picks up the handle he had dropped with a half melted blade morphed into a lump. "Great,"

"Let's not open that door." I say pointing at it.

"Good idea." Hermione says using the spell again, I wince but otherwise make no indication that I want her to stop.

But I do, so bad.

The next one Neville opens. "This looks it could be interesting!" He says entering the room.

We follow him wands out. "He isn't here." I whisper as we walk out into a room with a big tank of brains.

"How do you know?" Harry asks agitated.

"I notice a distinct lack of screaming for a tortured man." I retort.

Harry goes pale but we push on.

We enter a big courtroom almost. In the center is a big arch with a veil hung frailly, swaying in a nonexistent breeze, begging the question, what makes it move?

"What do you think this room is for?" Neville asks looking towards Hermione.

"I don't know." She says shrugging.

"I think it's some sort of ancient death sentence." I say as I lead the way towards the veil. "Why else would there be a courtroom? Maybe back in the old days they'd gather the heads of the families and convict a criminal, and kill him for his crimes if they were bad enough. It's just my guess though."

"Makes sense," Ron says following me down the steps. "How'd you get so smart Gin? Bloody hell…"

"I've always been like this; you've just been too dim to notice."

Harry takes a piece of the veil and rubs it between his fingertips. "Do you hear that?" He says excitedly.

Uh, yeah, I do actually and I don't particularly like what those voices are saying to me.

"No?" Ron answers for me.

"I do," Luna says dreamily. "Fascinating aren't they?"

Harry looks scared and excited at the same time. I look at Hermione to let her know I definitely hear those voices. "Do you think it has something to do with Thestrals?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure."

"Come on, we came here for a reason remember?" Ron says impatiently.

Immediately Harry's face tightens and I can see the lines of worry deepen in his face. We turn to go back to the hall of doors.

I rub Harry's shoulder reassuringly as we walk back up the several flights of stairs.

We walk back past the tank of brains. "Those things creep me out." Neville says shying away from the tank.

"I don't think it's a good idea to touch them." Hermione says moving Luna away from the tank and putting herself closer to it.

We walk out into the hallway and I look away as Hermione marks the door.

"We need to figure this out quicker." Harry grumbles pacing. He picks a door at random and yanks it open.

Well it's the one.

"The Hall of Prophecies," I whisper to myself.

Harry enters in awe as we look at the towers forty feet tall of nothing but bluish grey glowing crystal balls that contain the prophecy. Fifty yards per shelf, the smoke inside slowly rotating makes everything dizzy and confusing if you stare too long.

My heart starts to race because I know what's about to happen. We pace behind Harry as he speeds down each of the hundreds of rows of prophecies, column by column and endless sea of swirling confusion and name after name on golden plaques below them.

"Harry I found your name!" Neville says calling him over.

Sure enough on the plaque it says _H. Potter- T. Riddle._ I look over my shoulder naturally and see a pair of glistening blue eyes staring directly at me.

I nod and look back at them backing up only slightly.

Hermione is the only one to notice; although she makes no indication that anything is wrong. It isn't until Harry picks up the prophecy that anything, or anybody, makes notice of themselves.

**A/N Cliffhanger! Ha, Ha! How was that? I could feel myself using more and more sophisticated (and difficult to spell) words in that particular chapter, but that's only because I'm getting back into the hang of this Harry Potter Fanfic. I've got a couple good ideas for more of them, and I think I'll be focusing on HP once I finish my Hunger Games Fanfic. However, I don't know when I'll finish up that one. Anyway, sorry for the long AN. And Review? I love to hear what people think and this particular universe sucks when it comes to this shtuff. No offense! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

A gleaming, pearly, white smile appears next to the eyes as they inch forward into the light.

"Hello kiddies." Lucius Malfoy growls from under his mask.

Harry quickly moves forward and pushes me back behind him. I smirk only slightly to show my amusement.

"Hey Lucius." I speak up. "Might as well take off your mask. Less trouble for the Aurors you know."

"Funny Weaselette, my son says a lot about your smart mouth."

"Well I have to say, my mouth is rather smart, but then again, I'm a smart person, difficult to change that." I say smiling evilly.

Lucius takes his mask off. "Give us the prophecy Potter."

Harry lifts it away from Lucius. "No, why should I?"

"So we don't kill you!" Bella says appearing from the shadows showing the eyes that I had seen in the dark. "Either way, we will have that prophecy."

"Where's Sirius?"

"That brat of my cousin? I don't know, that's the beauty of it, he's not here." Bella cackles. "You fell for it!"

Harry tries to launch at her but is held back by Neville.

Then, it happens. I jump to the ground slightly quicker than everyone else when a curse flies past me at the exact time I had planned out.

They didn't change at all, we should be surrounded.

The group scatters despite my advice to Hermione. I jump up when Bella grabs my shirt. "You traitor!"

"How? I brought them to you. It's my bloody plan. Show some respect. Five teenagers no older than fifteen? One of them fourteen? Don't tell me you can't handle them." I say laughing.

She puts me down. "They genuinely didn't know?"

"Not one of them had a clue." I say glaring at her. "I have to put up an act, but I'll promise you, nothing more than a stunner or something more creative. No killing on my part. But I have to fire at you. Otherwise I blow my cover. You know this."

She nods. "You better not blow this."

"The only possible way to blow this is if you do. So get going." I say sprinting off after Harry.

Harry runs about three yards ahead of me throwing spells behind him randomly. "Bloody hell Harry you're going to get me killed!" I snap as I catch up with him.

I send a random curse back, purposefully missing, and knocking over case after case of prophecies.

The room fills with smoke and deafens with the many voices of the prophets and their predictions.

I shove Harry through the door and open one of the unmarked doors. "In here," I say shoving him inside.

We close the door before any Death Eaters can see where we went. "Fifteen Death Eaters, four of them, Ron and Luna are together, but Neville and Hermione split, we need to get to them, and we can be for damned sure that some Ministry Bigwigs are gonna be here pretty soon now that this has broken out. This is supposed to be high security; six teenagers and fifteen Death Eaters just waltzed in. I have a feeling someone's not going to be happy." I say all in one breathe.

"How do you know how many Death Eaters there are?"

"It's called counting try it sometime."

I say dragging him out of the room and into the corridor. A jet of green light flies directly past my face and Harry yanks me back to violently attack them.

He misses and I grumble pointing my wand at Yaxley, and stun him, causing him to fall forward and trip his Death Eater friends.

I try to continue to go after them but Harry drags me into the veil room where Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville stand back to back dueling by the brain tank.

Ron turned to the brain tank.

"No you stupid-"

"Accio brains!" Ron shouts.

"Ron!" Harry shouts from beside me running after him in an attempt to remove the brains from suffocating him.

Luna is struck down, Hermione revives her but she seems unable to fight, so she goes to help Harry and Ron.

Bella and I meet eyes and I slip into the veil room, just as the Order starts to show up with a bang.

I start a pretty nice faux duel with Bella, the only one who was told about my plan to keep my position.

I swear loudly when they start to appear. Harry and Sirius take the wheel as they dues Bella, I slip off again to try and get another good deal in, at some point Hermione was also struck down.

I see the stunner hit Sirius square in the chest as he falls through the veil, just in time for Lupin to catch Harry and keep him from launching himself through the veil.

Bella latches herself away directly before Dumbledore appears in the whirlwind of action and rounds up the Death Eaters with a few flicks of his wand.

I feel the burn of the mark as Bellatrix calls for our master. Harry bursts after her.

Dumbledore turns to me questioning where Harry went. "That way, after Bella, she called him."

"I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black!" You can hear her crazy cackle as she chants over and over trying to get a ruse from him.

Dumbledore and I both go trying to keep Harry back.

"Crucio!" Harry shouts.

Bella trips and you can see a flash of pain before its gone and she starts her creepy cackling again.

"You have to mean it Potter really mean it!" She says laughing.

She gets back up and runs out into the main entry way for the employees of the Ministry.

That's when hell freezes over and for the first time The Dark Lord shows himself in public.

I dive behind a statue barely getting hit by a snake of sand attacking Dumbledore. Bella and I can only watch as Harry is shielded by a statue.

Bella eggs him on and I stare in wonder as The Dark Lord and the only man he really ever feared duel each other over a fifteen year old boy.

It's so freaking cool!

Dumbledore is knocked back and the statue turned into dust.

The Dark Lord disappears.

"Where'd he g-" Bella is cut off as Harry writhes in the floor his green eyes turning red as he screams in agony, one moment begging Dumbledore to kill him and others daring him to kill him.

He hurls insults at Dumbledore and generally causes Harry pain.

It pains _me_ to see him like that, behind the red eyes and the clenching fists, I can still see _Harry_. It hurts so much to see him like that.

Finally he disappears from Harry's eyes leaving him half unconscious, bloody from the fight, and sore from the possession, on the cold damp floor.

He appears and waves his wand, until people begin to flood into the atrium. There are screams in horror and Fudge himself stands shaking.

The Dark Lord turns around and with a smirk he whisks off.

I dive to the side just as Bella is caught in ropes.

"I'll get you out." I say scooting away from her.

With my wand I give myself a few more cuts to make it look like she and I were dueling.

Dumbledore helps Harry up and he motions for me to find Tonks and get a lift back to Hogwarts.

I jog off to find a very determined and angry looking Auror with blood red hair and purple eyes.

"Hey Tonks," I say gently touching her shoulder as she scrutinizes Lucius Malfoy's unconscious face.

She jumps and whips around wand in hand, out of reflex, I knock her wand away from her hand with my own hand, it rolls a few feet before it stops stuck between tiles in the grout.

Her eyebrows raise and she gives a slight smile.

I smile back and summon her wand to hand back to her. "Quidditch,"

"Right," Her face goes grave. "Dumbledore told me."

"Then you know it's a miracle I'm alive and managed to keep my position?" I say as we walk slowly from the Department of Mysteries. I wince at the golden letters but force myself to continue forward.

"Yeah, bloody hell you're talented."

"I don't think so, all I do is lie." I say looking at her sideways. "How's Ron?"

"He's alright, he's going to be in St. Mungo's for a bit but not too bad."

"Luna and Hermione? Neville?"

"They're all fine, minor injuries but fine."

I nod. "I don't know half of what happened here." I say shrugging.

"Wouldn't expect you to. In shock I guess."

"No," I say shaking my head. "I know what shock feels like, me of all people my age, but I'm not in shock now. My mind's been whirring too fast for too long."

She nods. "What made you wince back there? When it came to the X's?"

"The same spell Riddle used to tell me I was gonna die. Shit like that sticks you know?"

"You had flashbacks? And you didn't shut down?"

"I've been having flashbacks for four years. I've coped."

"You really are an open book."

"I only answer questions, you don't ask, you don't know." I say shrugging and giving her a sideways smile.

She's short, and I'm young, so we're about the same height, making things quite a bit less awkward than they could have been.

"You're a Gryffindor."

"Yep,"

We reach one of the fire places in the atrium, in shatters of course.

"Okay, just step in and you'll be put into a public bathroom, wait for me there and we'll apparate to Hogsmeade."

I nod and step into the fire. Technically, I could apparate on my own, in the Death Eater way, but that would not be very good, and it would be suspicious if I arrived back at Hogwarts without a chaperone.

It seems I'm the only person on the planet who is totally and completely safe from any foe out there. Death Eaters think I'm on their side, and I'm already preferred by The Dark Lord so, they're definitely not going to hurt me.

Tonks appears and we apparate quickly.

We walk silently through the silent, pitch black town. Tonks opens the great, wrought, iron gates to lead me back to the castle.

"Anytime you need someone to talk to, or need help come talk to me Ginny." Tonks says smiling at me with a wink.

"Do me a favor,"

She looks at me curiously.

"Don't keep your hair like that, it scares the crap outta me." I say smirking.

She giggles and her hair immediately lightens to her usual bubblegum pink. "Better?"

"More Tonks like." I say smiling and opening the front doors of the castle. "See you."

"Wotcher Ginny!"

I walk up to Gryffindor tower with a smile. Dumbledore leads a really roughed up looking Umbridge through the castle.

"Miss. Weasley, please come with us."

"Oh goody." I say yawning as I follow them to Dumbledore's office.

There waiting in the office is Snape, Lupin, Mum, Dad, and Fudge.

Mum and Dad swarm me asking me questions about me, about Ron, Harry, Neville, Hermione, and the Lovegood Girl.

"They're all fine." I say getting them to settle down.

We watch as everything pans out, the removal of Umbridge as High Inquisitor, the announcement of Sirius' death and the admitting that Sirius was always innocent, Snape's recounting of what happened, a couple minutes of silence and then Dumbledore said that he would have to sleep on it.

So, then, I was finally let go to go to bed.

I walk in the Common Room to find Seamus, Kelsey, and Dean believe it or not, waiting for me to arrive.

"How is everyone?" Seamus asks jumping up.

"Did anyone die?" Collin says jumping up from behind a couch.

"Everyone's fine, no one died, Harry got possessed, Ron was nearly strangled to death by killer brains and I think Hermione sprained her ankle, but other than that, everyone is fine, and there's a whole host of Death Eaters about ready to rot in Askaban. Isn't it nice?" I smile tiredly. "I'm tired guys; I'll answer questions and correct the idiot newspapers in the morning that is if Dumbledore doesn't remove us from school. We've got what? Two days left? We'll be fine."

With that, I leave all of them except a star struck Kelsey, padding behind me, in the Common Room to go to bed.

I don't bother to change my clothes; all I can think about is that fantastically soft bed in front of me.

**A/N Oh! Two updates in one day! Bow before me! No I'm just kidding I love you guys. However, it's time for some sleep. I have a half day at school tomorrow so extra time to write! Or read the book I have to read and finish three projects on due in about three weeks… but you know how it goes! Review? Please? *puppy dog face* please?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Everyone is freaking out. The news came today, now there are people crying and pale and scared.

Hey, Harry and Dumbledore have been trying to tell you idiots for a year now, and you have yet to believe them until the Prophet says that it's true.

Wow, I'm surrounded by idiots.

Hermione sits next to me quietly as we eat quickly. "Harry and Ron are in the hospital wing. Luna and Neville are over there." Hermione says to me as I stuff toast and eggs into my face.

"Okay, I guess we'll go visit them as soon as we're done eating." I say looking at her. "I had Bella covering my back, I might have to leave earlier than expected to set things straight."

She looks at me. "W-What if it doesn't work? What if they don't b-believe you?" She asks pale.

"Then Mum will have to set one less table at dinner." I say taking a drink of pumpkin juice.

"That's it? You're not even scared?"

"I don't think I am Hermione." I say sighing and looking out at all the panicked faces. "There are more important things than to be scared."

Hermione looks at me flabbergasted. "Bloody hell Gin."

I ignore her as we make our way to the hospital wing. Harry is conscious and he looks over at us. He seems to let out a breath he was holding as we walk over.

"Hey Harry," I say as we get to his bed.

Ron is next to him and still unconscious, although his wounds were healed, he has many scars all over his body.

"Hey," He says quietly.

He hasn't slept at all. Sirius is weighing pretty heavily on his mind.

I sit down and Hermione stays standing. "How're you feeling?" Hermione asks.

What a stupid question.

"Fine," Harry says shrugging.

I'd rather him say that he wasn't feeling alright.

Let the fight begin.

"Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey says mildly. "You are fit to leave."

He gets up to sit next to Ron's bed.

He looks absolutely crushed. He sits down and just seems to slump down. He hangs his head and his hair falls over his forehead sadly, and his eyes are glued to the white sheets as he avoids looking at us.

I sit down next to him and look at him. I want to touch him, but I don't know how he'll react, his hands are tight fists and his jaw is clenched.

I can't stand seeing him like this.

"I'm going for a walk." I say standing up.

I touch the top of Harry's head as I walk by and look at Hermione with a look that said I wanted to talk to her.

We go right outside the doors of the hospital. I look at her.

I scratch the back of my neck. "If I em- don't come back…"

Hermione launches at me and pulls me into a bone crushing hug. "I know," She whimpers.

I pat her back and step away. I nod at her and walk away.

I find myself waiting in the Entrance Hall for Snape.

"He wants to see you." He says as we walk to his office to use the Floo system.

"I figured he would."

"Be glad you weren't there when they were arrested and nobody brought him the prophecy. Bella escaped, she had her wand and managed to get out of the ropes." He says updating me. "She even defended you."

"Good," I say curtly. "How has He taken it?"

"He is reserving judgment for when you get there."

"Great," I say sighing. "See ya, Malfoy Manor."

I'm whisked off to the mansion without another word to my potions professor.

I walk into the entrance room of the Manor. Bella is curled up on a bench in the fetal position as she whimpers to herself about failing her master.

I look around and approach her. "Made it out did ya?"

She jumps up wand in hand and creepy stare on her face.

I bat her wand away like I did with Tonks. "Don't point that thing at me."

She looks almost sheepish. "The Dark Lord is angry."

I nod my head at her. "I'll have to fix that."

She starts to take offense and I know that she doesn't like when I regard her as if I were higher than she was. But the only way to gain the best possible position, I need to. The Dark Lord likes my guts.

"My Lord," I say evenly as I bow to him.

"Ginny, come in." He says. He's sitting at the long table.

There's no one but me and him. Bella has long since fled the room. Nagini slithers to me, she hisses at me and I know she's hungry.

But I'm not scared. I meet His eyes as he stares at me. His eyes are filled with anger and I'm about to feel his wrath.

"My Death Eaters failed me." He says. I feel a nudge on my mind and I know he's trying to use Legilimency. I close off. "You failed me."

"My Lord," I say deadly quiet. "You have seen me, I do not fail. My job was to bring him to you; my job was to bring him. I did not fail."

He slams his fist onto the table. "I don't have the prophecy!" He screams.

I don't wince and I don't budge. I show patience.

"My Lord that is not my fault. Lucius should have brought it to you, instead he was captured and we now have to waste resources getting him and the others out of Askaban. My Lord, if anyone is as angry as you, it would be me. Five teenagers, granted more than I had planned for, but they were no older than fifteen. I expected real Death Eaters awaiting us; instead I found Lucius and his glamour squad. My Lord, if they couldn't handle five teenage wizards, a three to one ratio, then they were not meant to serve you. It's surprising they have lasted this long. My Lord, if anything you are forgiving and kind for allowing them to live this long." I say leaning back in my chair looking relaxed even though the Dark Lord is angry and I am the only thing in the room he can direct his wrath upon.

He looks at me almost instantly calmed. "You're a smart girl." He says looking at me curiously. "We need to kill Dumbledore before we can reach Potter."

"Then we need Death Eaters on the inside of Hogwarts. We can't just march through the front door waving our marks around. You want a real elite team. A _real_ one." I say shrugging.

"Draco Malfoy. I want him to kill Dumbledore." He says leaning towards me. "I want to know what you think of him."

Is he saying what I think he's saying?

"My Lord my opinion hardly matters does it?"

He sits back in his throne regarding me. "You have good sense Ginny Weasley. Why Lucius planted that diary on you I have no idea."

I laugh coldly. "My Lord, another reason Lucius is not a capable Death Eater."

He chuckles along with me. "I'll train you myself. Teach you things that you would never learn from Dumbledore, or even Snape."

I smile almost genuinely. "My Lord, I'd be honored." I say in awe. "I'd be honored to learn from you."

He stands up to pace the room. It's damp and dark and just the way anybody would assume The Dark Lord to reside in. Grand and evil.

"I need to have a competent right hand." He says more to himself than me.

"My pleasure," I say still smiling my calm, lucid, almost sarcastic smile.

"I like her attitude. She's young." He mutters. "But she's more talented than Lucius, perhaps even Bella. Yes, I think this will work well for me."

I'm silent and my smile fades but the look in my eyes does not. The look of respect and honor.

He turns to me with a snap. "Note Bella, I need to speak to young Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes My Lord," I say bowing low and leaving the room.

"Get me Draco," I say harshly to Bella.

Draco comes pale and shivering, not ready to meet his master.

I shove him into the room; I can see him staring at my mark. "You're definitely an underachiever Draco Malfoy." I hear before I leave the room.

An elf comes by offering a cup of tea. I take it silently and walk into a dining room. I find Narcissa there.

"Ginny, sit down sit down." She says distractedly.

I sit down. Narcissa is pacing and she looks worried. After all, her husband is in Askaban and her son is gonna get it.

"I'm worried about Draco." She whispers.

"Aren't we all?" I say leaning back. "I know that he isn't ready. He's just a scared sixteen year old boy isn't he? He shouldn't be in this war."

She looks at me. "You're even younger. Neither of you should be here."

I shake my head. "This war is for everyone unfortunately. At this point it isn't about what you believe; it's about what side you're on. Who do you want to see dead most? So you choose sides. You choose the wrong one and you die, you stay neutral and you're getting shot at by both sides. Narcissa, Draco is possibly one of the safest people on the planet at this point. No one has the guts to approach Him anymore, let alone anger him." I say comfortingly. "I can't say I'm proud to be a Weasley, and it's not because of the disgusting blood."

She just stares at me. "So young." She says to herself.

"Unfortunately that's the only way. Now or never."

She looks at me almost like she's worried about me. "Did He hurt you?" She asks pale. "Was he angry at you?"

"No, no, I did what I was told and I didn't fail him. I'm fine." I say realizing that I'm using the same words as Harry back at Hogwarts.

She looks away. "Will He hurt him?"

"Stop it Cissy." Bella says entering the room. "Draco should be proud."

"Bella speaks the truth Narcissa." I say smiling. "Draco should be proud. He won't fail I'm sure. I'll do what I can to help."

"You will?" she asks coming over and kneeling so that she's looking up at me desperately.

"I won't be able to do everything. But it's better than him alone." I say shrugging. "Narcissa, nothing will go wrong."

She hugs me awkwardly. Clearly neither of us are really used to the human contact.

"Was the Dark Lord angry with you?" Bella asks smirking at me as she sits next to me properly.

"No, in fact He was delighted." I say inspecting my nails. "He is training me Himself. Wants me as His right hand man."

Bella looks at me in utmost respect and almost fear. "You must be kidding."

"Why would I be?" I say smirking. "I'm going to be learning some astounding things."

Bella just stares at me. I look over at Narcissa and she's staring at me with her mouth hanging open in shock and worry.

Why is Narcissa of all people worried about me?

"I need to go." I say checking the clock. "Have a nice day."

Bella stumbles to her feet and bows to me. She notices that Narcissa is still frozen in shock, so she shoves her neck down so that Narcissa is bowing to me as well.

I nod to them and leave through the Floo.

Snape stands up and looks at me with a blank expression. I look at him with wide eyes. "We need to go see Dumbledore. _Right now_. Both of us."

We rush off to Dumbledore together. Nobody is in the halls to send questioning looks to us, so we don't have to look like I'm in trouble. Again.

"Coconut Truffles." Snape says to the gargoyle.

The Gargoyle lets us in and we rush up the steps. I knock on the door loudly and almost panicky.

"Come in,"

I walk in and Snape behind me. Tonks is sitting there and his office is a bloody _mess_.

Snape gives me a shove to make it look like I'm in trouble.

"She knows," I growl looking at him. "Professor, eh, something's going on, and eh, it's not good."

"Well what is it Ginny?"

I give a look at Tonks and she immediately pales. She seems to know that if I'm scared, then we all need to be fucking panicking.

"Well, first, they want to kill you, not surprising, but the second thing, eh." I pause scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "I have to be trained by V-v The Dark Lord himself. He wants me to be his right hand man. I guess that's good but I need to be available to be taught, and eh, yeah they want you dead. I gave them a vague idea but my mind is working overdrive right now with a million ways the Death Eaters can do this."

He leans against the desk. "How foolproof is your plan at this point?"

"Well, Draco is being assigned to the mission, and I thought about that vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirements. He needs to fix it, but it creates a passage from Hogwarts to Borgin and Burkes, which is Death Eater friendly."

"You can guess where it goes from there." I say looking at him. "But there's a million things we can do."

Dumbledore smiles. "We'll be able to handle this Ginny, I'm sure you can take care of it."

"Hold on," Tonks says looking from me to Dumbledore. "Okay, Albus, you know that we need you in the war."

"Perhaps, but I have a few plans of my own Tonks. Why don't you and Ginny go on and enjoy the beautiful day as much as the two of you can."

What? Really? Her cousin, my boyfriend's Godfather just fucking died and we're going outside to frolic in the flowers?

Ugh Dumbledore.

Tonks stands up and ducks her head as we leave his office without protest.

"How's Harry taking things?" Tonks says dully.

"Terribly, how are _you_ taking things?"

She looks at me with sad eyes. "If I hadn't let him come with us, he wouldn't have died. If I had just a little bit of sense."

I turn around and cross my arms and lean against the wall. "Okay, one, you honestly think that if you had said no that he would have heeded? It's fucking Sirius Black we're talking about. He's never followed a rule in his life. Two, if it's anybody's fault it's mine. It was my bloody plan! It went wrong because you guys were never supposed to show up. Three, it's Bella's fault. As far as I'm concerned if it wasn't your wand it wasn't your fault." I say looking directly into her guilty eyes with determined ones of my own. "You know it was my plan, and now you know that there are more of those to come. I can't stop thinking Tonks. Because I read people, I know you and the Order, and I know how you will react. If I wanted to be a real Death Eater, I could create plans that you wouldn't be able to hinder. Tonks, Sirius didn't die because of you, or because of Harry, he died because of me."

She looked at me with an almost pitying stare. "Ginny you had no choice."

"No choice? I had plenty of choices. I could have kept quiet. But I didn't. It's the truth Tonks. I'd change it if I could, but things just didn't work out that way." I say pushing away from the wall and continue walking towards the double doors. "The Dark Lord is not going to stop killing and trying to kill Harry until one of them is dead. Preferably The Dark Lord."

Tonks follows me silently.

"Is Draco really being drafted?" She asks nervously.

"Yep, and I offered to help him. Narcissa was freaking out pretty terribly. I don't think she's just worried about Draco. I think she worries about me some too."

"I know I worry about you."

"But with her it's motherly." I say shrugging. "I mean look at the facts. I'm fourteen and a Death Eater. That's definitely something scary for most people. Imagine you becoming a Death Eater at fourteen."

"I would be sobbing my eyes out."

"That's what Draco's been doing." I say looking at her blankly.

She falls quiet as we step out into the sun. I spot Harry and Hermione in the shade of a tree.

I don't go towards them, I continue walking with Tonks. "I can't say I'm not scared. If I mess up, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to die. I have to worry that my plans will work. Then, there's that scary idea that if they do work that Harry will die, that everyone will die. At that point I'd kill myself. If I mess up and blow my cover, then I have to worry about my death. I'm not scared of blowing my cover. If I blow my cover only I die. That's okay. It's okay if it's just me." I say shrugging.

Tonks looks repelled. "Ginny, why did you say yes?"

"I didn't have much of a choice." I say smirking at the reuse of her words. "And any chance to protect Harry I'll take. Any chance to protect my family, my friends."

"What if your Mum found out?" Tonks says looking at me.

"She'd blow a gasket. Hurt someone, explode." I say chuckling. "The point is, don't let her know."

Tonks just looks at me. "How am I gonna keep going Gin? Remus, he just won't listen."

"He loves you. That's why he wants to keep you as far away as possible." I say simply.

I can see Tonks blushing slightly. "That makes no sense."

"Yeah it does." I say smiling at her. "He's just like Harry, or James I'm sure if he were in the same position or me even. Any sane person really. If you're a danger to other people, you naturally want to keep the ones you love away from you. He's a werewolf, and he doesn't want to hurt you."

"That's bullshit!" She explodes. "Pardon my language, but that's stupid! He won't hurt me. Doesn't he get that I'm not willing to leave him? Just because he's a werewolf doesn't mean anything. I won't love him any less."

"Ah, but that's not how he sees it. I'm waiting for the day Harry breaks up with me for the sole reason that he doesn't want me to be captured by The Dark Lord. Too late." I say smiling sadly. "I don't know if I'll be able to convince him anything. Harry's as stubborn as I am. The only way you'll be able to get through Lupin's head is if you're more stubborn than he is."

I see a tear run down her face and she quickly wipes it away. "Why don't they just understand that we're in it as deep as they are?"

"Because they like to see it as they're the only ones that can get hurt. The one thing that they're afraid of is someone else, especially us, get hurt. Harry, Remus, Dad, Mum, Ron, they all see it as they are the ones standing between us and death, and they feel like it's impossible to get past them as long as we sit back and twiddle our thumbs. Sirius wasn't like that, because he felt that everyone deserved to know what's going on. They pretend that if you're not informed then you're not in danger. It's unfortunately not true." I say.

"It's like you know everything Gin."

"No, I just think logically." I say smiling at her.

She's yet to smile at all. "He was the only family member besides my parents that accepted me." She says shrugging. "He's gone too soon."

I nod looking ahead. "It was too soon for a lot of people in the first war. This is a whole new war. More people are going to die. Things are going to happen that we all wish we could stop. We don't even know how long this is all going to last." I say shrugging. "If we don't win, it'll be worse than a war."

"I've got to go Ginny." Tonks says checking her watch.

"See ya Tonks."

"You take care of yourself, be careful." She says warningly.

"Of course, don't worry about me Tonks. Take care."

She walks off towards Hogsmeade.

I meander over to Harry and Hermione with my head down. I don't look up when I sit down next to Harry.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Harry look at me worriedly.

Why is the bloody kid worrying about me? Why is anyone worrying about me?

"Ginny?" Hermione says carefully.

"Hm?" I say not looking at either of them.

I need to compose myself but I don't want to. I want to scream, cry even, I want to tell Harry what's going on.

I hear footsteps leave and I'm guessing that that would be Hermione leaving.

"Ginny?" Harry says quietly.

I run my hand through my hair and look at him. "Hm?"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" I ask immediately paying attention to him.

Harry hurriedly explains the prophecy and everything it means.

I've already gotten this lecture, but it's new to Harry.

It should be new to me.

"So it's one or the other?" I ask paling. "Bloody hell,"

Harry nods and looks down. "Dumbledore said that he should've told me sooner."

"He should've! Bloody hell Harry, one of you is going to die and you didn't know this before?" I say looking at him in a mock shell shocked face. "It's a bit of a bombshell don't you think?"

"I agree." Harry says darkly.

I have a feeling Harry is the reason Dumbledore's office is a mess.

Harry goes back to looking at his feet.

"Harry," I say looking at him. "Harry,"

He doesn't look up.

I put a hand on his chin forcing him to look up at me. "Listen to me," I say gently. "No matter what happens, you need to know that I'm here, Hermione and Ron and Luna and Neville too. We're going to be here no matter what. I swear."

His green eyes are searching and scared. I kiss him softly. "No matter what happens."

He nods in understanding and slings his arm around my shoulders. "Ginny?"

"Hm?" I say quietly.

"How am I gonna kill him?" He asks looking at me.

"I don't know." I say leaning against his chest. "I think you should worry about graduating Hogwarts and being a fully trained wizard." I look up at him.

He nods and pecks me on the lips. "I'm not going to tell the Dursley's about Sirius." Harry says sighing. "He made my life easier ya know? Thought a mass murderer would come and teach em better when I thought they were treating me wrong."

I nod. "You shouldn't have to lie." I say sighing. "The Order won't be the same."

"No," He says shaking his head. "At least he's with dad."

"Well he won't be bored." I say smiling at him.

"I shiver to think about Sirius when he's bored."

"It'd be similar to Fred and George when they're bored." I say laughing. "It'd be a train wreck."

"Yeah," Harry says smiling slightly.

**A/N Hey guys! This was a freaking long chapter! And it was fun writing too! I'm disappointed that I didn't get any reviews :/ but I'll get over it. You mind reviewing for this chapter? Please?**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The train ride is relatively uneventful. Luna, Neville, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I sit in a compartment on our own.

Harry and I sit next to each other with his arm slung around my shoulders and Luna on my other side. Hermione, Ron, and Neville sit awkwardly across from us as we wait to leave.

We end up entertaining ourselves by picking on Ron.

"Well I guess Ron found the other half of his brain." I say smirking at him.

"It's not funny." Ron says pouting.

Luna and Hermione both pull out their own reading material, Luna her freaky magazine, and Hermione her thirty pound book.

Okay maybe that's an exaggeration. _Thirty-five_ pounds.

The train slows to a stop and we all look around at each other sadly. Shuffling off the train, I make sure to trip my brother once or twice for the hell of it.

Harry is gripping my waist like he's afraid to lose me in the crowd. I look back at him and he smiles at me slightly.

None of us are really in the mood to laugh and joke and smile, but we do anyway because that's how you're supposed to live.

We don't immediately see Mum and Dad, but Tonks and Lupin are waiting for us.

"We can't go back to headquarters." Tonks says a small smile on her face.

"Why not?"

"Dumbledore wants to straighten out a few things first. Your Mum offered the Burrow, and she asked us to meet you." Lupin says dully.

I smile at him. "Sounds good."

"Where are the Dursley's?" He asks looking around and back at Harry, who's now holding my hand.

Harry looks around. "I don't know." He mumbles. "Ah there they are."

"See ya Harry." I say kissing him and giving him a small smile. "I'll write and you bloody well write back."

He smiles at me and kisses me back. I look over at the Dursley's where all three of them are looking at me like they're a mix of disgust and shock. Especially Petunia Dursley.

Dudley immediately starts to flex his muscles, making his three chins wobble slight as he looks at me.

I give him a disgusted look and walk after Ron, Lupin, and Tonks.

Getting back home was easy and again uneventful; however actually arriving home is a flurry of excitement.

The twins run off and meet us in the yard. Fred hugs me, lifting me off the ground, while George hugs Ron lifting him off the ground, all the while laughing and saying how proud they are that they're our brothers. Then they switch off and it's George's turn to hug me.

I readjust my sleeves to make sure that they are covering my mark and we walk inside. For some reason, the twins are carrying my trunk.

Another brother comes in and lifts me off the ground in a hug. "Bill!" I say smiling at him.

He swoops in and takes Ron in a hug as well.

"Is this your life all the time?" Ron asks looking at me.

"Yep, you'll get used to it eventually." I say readjusting my sleeves again.

Then, Mum and Dad both freak out again.

"I miss the ground." Ron says after we get let go.

"I miss my ribs."

Dumbledore patiently waits for everyone to settle down. Moody looks plain irritated.

"Yeah, yeah, heroes of the family, not that special, let's get on with it."

"Not that special eh? Let's see a fourteen year old Moody take on a gang of Death Eaters." Fred says smartly.

"You two better go upstairs and unpack." Mum says scooting us along.

"Alright Mum," Ron says sighing.

Ron unpacks rather quickly and comes down to my room to watch me. "I wonder what they're talking about."

"I'm sure Fred and George will tell us. They're in the Order now." I say looking at him.

"Right," Ron grunts.

We stand awkwardly in silence. "This is probably the longest we've ever gone without fighting." I say putting away my broom in my closet.

"Ever," He says looking at his hands. "Ginny?"

"Hm?"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"'Course not. You're pretty smart." I say looking at him. "Why?"

"It's just, no one really thinks of me as anything. I'm not smart like Hermione, I'm not talented like Harry, Mum always wanted a girl, I'm not funny like Fred and George, I'm not proper like Percy, I'm not tough like Charlie, and I'm not an all-star like Bill. What am I?" He says just looking towards the door.

"You're Ron." I say shrugging. "Of course you're not smart like Hermione, you're not Hermione. You're not tough like Charlie, you're not Charlie. I can tell you, you're one of the most loyal people on the planet, in my opinion."

"Loyal? Is that all? Just a bloody dog?" He says looking at me. "I really am nothing special."

"You're my brother." I say simply.

He smirks; his smirk turns into a smile.

"That's probably the cheesiest thing I've ever said." I say smiling along with him.

"It's probably the cheesiest thing I've ever heard." He says starting to chuckle.

Our chuckling turns into laughter, and it just feels good.

Years of drifting from him because of the Chamber, and then both of us submersing ourselves in studies and our own friends, it feels good to laugh with my brother again.

"Was that the whole point? To make me say something cheesy?" I say shoving his shoulder.

"No!" He says laughing. "I was genuinely being sensitive."

"Please," I laugh. "You're my brother, and this is why I don't like you."

He stops laughing and narrows his eyes at me.

"Shoulda let me finish my sentence eh?" I say laughing. He shoves me off the bed. "I rest my case. Jerk."

"What was that?" Mum calls from downstairs.

"Ron pushing me around!" I call down with a smirk.

"Push him back!"

"My pleasure." I say shoving Ron onto the ground and stretching out over my bed.

**A/N Hey guys! I needed to get this in there because it didn't fit right in the last chapter, and it didn't fit right in the next chapter. Of course none of this is planned out and I'm doing all of this off the top of my head, but hey, I'll get another update in soon hopefully. Unfortunately I have a book and a few projects to complete so, I may not update as frequently as I want.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

I can't say I didn't learn anything from the Dark Lord in the first week I've been going to his lessons.

I learn a plethora of things in just seven days. Everything I learn is draining and I have to say, I did not expect him to be so patient.

In fact all he has is high praises for me, even though I don't get much on the first try. He starts with the theoretical sides of everything, and then he starts to work in my wand as I start understanding.

He's almost a better teacher than some of my professors.

He gets excited when I do something right and he is patient when I do something wrong, he teaches me everything he knows.

I learn quickly under his instruction, and we progress fast.

He teaches me a surplus of dark curses and spells that I practice on a Muggleborn prisoner.

"Legilimency," He says turning to me. "The art of infiltrating one's mind to learn of their secrets and past. When one is hiding something, the memories and thoughts that immediately disprove it come to the forefront of their mind. It makes things much easier to tell the difference between truth and lies."

"My Lord, I've already mastered Occlumency, so I know what each of them are, I know how to use Occlumency and how it feels to successfully use it, but Legilimency, and I've never tried."

"This is good." He says smiling at me. "This piece of scum, I wish I could give you less filthy subjects, but I don't have the resources yet, we will have to make do."

"Learning is learning my lord." I say nodding at him.

I turn to her. "Legilimens!" I say aloud.

I feel some sort of barrier, and I try to push, but it's not strong enough, and I'm thrown back into my mind.

"Legilimens!" I say again.

"Very good." The Dark Lord says.

Suddenly, He melts away and I find myself in the halls of Hogwarts.

"He just drives me mad!" I see a familiar looking girl around sixteen or so says.

"You're just in love with him Lily." A younger version of our prisoner says giggling.

Lily? Hold on, Harry's mother?

"Am not!" She says blushing. "He's an insufferable toe rag."

"He's not that bad Lily, Potter's actually pretty cute."

"Cute? He's a jerk, and a stalker."

"Because he's in love with you! And you love him back." She says giggling again.

"Ugh you just don't understand do you?"

"I understand that you two love each other, no matter how much you don't want to admit."

Then, we flick to another memory, Lily, dressed in all white, kisses a handsome man in a black suit happily.

Clearly in love.

"I told you," Our prisoner says as she embraces her friend.

"Yeah, I know." Lily giggles happily.

I'm back in our teaching chamber my wand pointed maliciously at her face. She sobs as she hangs her head.

"Very good, Very good! Very powerful witch you are! Very good!" The Dark Lord says touching my shoulder and then shouting it to the room.

I only have eyes for the woman.

"Now you may kill her. She's too used. Too dirty now, go ahead and kill her." He whispers into my ear.

"My pleasure." I say blankly. "Avada Kadavra."

"That should be enough today, three advanced spells in one day, you really are very talented. I'll have made a good investment in you."

I'm staring at the limp body of Lilly Potter's best friend.

As if I didn't already hate what I've done. "Aren't you glad I didn't die in the Chamber of Secrets?" I say smirking. "A good place for me to practice at Hogwarts."

"Good, good," He says looking at me as if I were his own daughter almost.

His pride and joy am I correct?

"You may go now."

"Yes My Lord." I say bowing and leaving the mansion swiftly.

I quickly cover my arm as I enter the Burrow again. Tonks and Lupin are having a heated discussion in the living room with no one around.

"Ginny," They both greet me awkwardly.

"Hey," I say as awkwardly back. "Hey Lupin, who was Lily's best friend?"

"Snape,"

"No, after that, when she and James got married."

"Harriet Charbonneau," He says simply. "Friends since first year of Hogwarts."

"Okay, thanks," I say looking at my feet. "I killed her today." I say looking at them.

Lupin pales. "Was she in pain?"

"Yeah," I say putting my hands in my pocket and looking away again. "We used her as a curse dummy for the last week. I used her for Legilimency, and that's how I know she was Lily's friend. Then today, I killed her because she was too filthy to be used anymore."

Two steps and Tonks engulfs me in a hug. "I'm sorry Ginny. I really wish it weren't you."

I hug her back tightly. I notice that Lupin is only watching her, like he wanted to be with her, but won't allow himself.

"Ginny," Snape says from behind me.

I whip around to see his head in the fire place. "It's Dumbledore, come _now_."

His head disappears. I grab a handful of Floo powder.

"Continue your heated discussion." I say winking at them and stepping into the emerald green flames. "Hogwarts Headmaster's Office."

In a blur of color I'm in Dumbledore's office and I see an aging man, not the powerful and purposeful man I'm used to seeing, but an old, tired man.

He's deadly pale, and there's a broken ring and a sword on the floor, and there sits Dumbledore with a blackened hand.

"How could you have been so stupid? Albus honestly!" Snape shouts at the headmaster.

"Hold on, I've had a long day, fill me in."

"The ring!" Snape shouts. "Was cursed, obviously! And the old goat put it on! No cure for it of course! It's The Dark Lord's magic!"

"How long until it spreads Severus?" Dumbledore says breathing shakily and heavily as he lifts a blackened and withered hand.

"A year perhaps."

I stare off now as Snape continues to shout.

"Snape, calm down." I snap. "We can work this out."

"There are a few things I need to tell the both of you." He says leaning weakly against his desk. "A few very dark and very disturbing things."

"Hit me with your best shot." I say glaring at Snape to sit down, already used to my power over the other Death Eaters, out of sheer habit he sits.

"First, that ring proves what I thought for a long time. Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes?"

"What?" I say looking at Dumbledore. "He told me about them, said he'd teach me how to make them. How many does he have?"

"He has made seven. Ginny, which ones have been destroyed?" He asks me like he's teaching a class.

"Eh, the diary, I assume that ring, and that's it." I say. "His snake is one. That's all he eluded to having."

"The ring, Hufflepuff's Cup, his snake perhaps, and another thing of historical importance. There's one more." He says. "The locket of Slytherin."

"That's six," Snape says. "I'll find out later what a horcrux is."

"The last one is unfortunately Harry himself." He says sadly.

"Wait what?" I say tilting my head.

"Neither may live while the other survives. Harry must die." He says looking both of us in the eye.

"What?" Snape says loudly. "All of these years? All of these years I protected him for you! For her! And he dies anyway? Raising a pig for slaughter? He dies?"

"Don't tell me you've developed an attachment to the boy, Severus?" Dumbledore says almost teasingly.

"Well I have," I say looking at him. Neither men pay attention, instead Snape jumps up.

"Expecto Patronum," He says angrily. A silvery doe erupts from his wand tip and prances about the room.

"After all these years," Dumbledore says smiling with his eyes sparkling.

"Always," Snape says harshly.

I don't know what they're talking about; quite frankly I don't give a damn. "Alright," I say leaning in. "How do you suppose we tell him?"

"Not until the time is right."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shout standing up next to a livid Snape. "He's going to die, period. No doubt about it and you're not going to tell him! You've gone way past betrayal! Now it's just sick! Sick!"

"Sit down," Dumbledore says sternly.

No! I'm not gonna sit down. "What in your right mind makes you think that this is okay? It's his bloody life and not yours. He's not a pawn! He's not a bloody object! He's a bloody human being, and this isn't about me and my feelings. He's a human being!" I shout ignoring him. "I will throw my life away for you and your bloody plans! But I'm _willing_, and I _know_ what I'm doing! Harry, he has to throw away his life without knowing a damn thing about what he's doing? You're sick!"

I start immediately pacing left arm close to my chest and the other running through my hair. "If you have a year then we have to go through with the plan to kill you."

"It must be Severus." Dumbledore says. "It must be Severus."

"Why him?" I ask looking at Severus it looks as if he's been hit by the crippling blow.

"You would know wouldn't you Ginny?"

"No actually I wouldn't." I snap.

"Voldemort is after the three Deathly Hallows. You both know what they are. The stone," He points at the ring and Snape scoops it up. "The wand," He says holding up his own wand. "And finally, the invisibility cloak."

"Harry has that." I say putting the pieces together. "So he wants to kill you for your wand and to get you out of the way, that's not difficult. You want Snape to kill you so that the wand is rightfully his, and The Dark Lord can't use it properly. But what if He figures it out and kills Snape?"

"Not really. See if Snape kills me while I have the wand and don't raise it to defend myself, the loyalty dies with me. It will never be loyal to anyone else even if I'm buried with it and someone robs my grave."

I turn to look at him and I fix him with one of my deadliest glares. "It's still sick."

"You mean-"Snape hesitates. "I'm going to die."

"Unfortunately that is the case Severus."

"Wow," I say starting to clap slowly. "Playing God I see. Congrats. Sealing the fate of everyone. I applaud you." I say my lip curling into a sneer.

I grab some Floo powder and throw it into the flames. "I'm leaving; you know where to find me." I say coldly.

"The Burrow!" I say clearly glaring right at Dumbledore as I'm swept away in a blur of colors.

I don't know if the blur is from the Floo or my own tears, but I can barely see when I stumble out.

I set my jaw and harden my eyes as I step confidently onto the hearth.

"What happened?" Tonks says panicky.

"Nothing," I say curtly.

I step past her and run up the stairs to my room slamming the door behind me. I kick the door in anger and fall onto my bed hot tears streaming down my face.

Something tapping at my window jerks me from my crying in a rush.

Outside my window is Hedwig. "Harry," I whisper as I clamber over my bed and let her into the room.

"Hey Hedwig," I say smiling shakily as she nips at my ear in affection. "Sorry I don't have anything for you."

I untie the letter from her leg and pet her as I read it.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Already I miss Sirius' letters talking about how encaged he feels. I'm out of the loop when it comes to the Order and it's driving me mad. Please if you find out anything, tell me. I want to know, I need to know, it's important._

_The Dursley's are as terrible as ever. Dudley has a new girlfriend and she's as disgusting as he is. He gave her a boxing lesson. I was the punching bag as usual._

_When I didn't threaten him with Sirius he just kept going and she only laughed and punched me harder. I don't understand how they can find fun in hurting people that have done nothing to them._

_How has your summer been? Ron hasn't written yet, but you know how he is, doesn't really like writing in general. Hermione has however, telling me all about the things she's read, and what her plans are._

_Love Harry._

How cute and awkward.

I start to cry again as I read it over a second time. Such a terrible life and it's going to end soon. How soon? I don't know. It could be twenty years. I would prefer twenty years, but it could also be two months.

Only time will tell.

I put his letter on my dresser and lay on my bed numbly. I feel like I'm already mourning him.

"Ginny?" Tonks says knocking on my door. "C'mon Ginny,"

"What do you want?" I say laying on my side as Hedwig sits on the windowsill sleeping.

She walks in, even though I didn't invite her, but I don't care at this point. "Is that Hedwig?" She asks. "Did Harry-"

"No," I say running a hand through my hair. "No, Dumbledore is just asking a lot."

"What does he want you to do?"

"I can't say." I say sitting up to look at her. "I can't tell anyone, and it's got me pissed. It's sick. I can't tell you much more."

"Does it have to do with Voldemort?"

I shake my head. "Well, in a way, but it's not the reason."

She nods. "Remus is being just as intolerable as ever." She says leaning against the wall.

She's trying to distract me and I'm grateful. "Surprise, surprise. He's stubborn." I say smiling sadly at her.

"Tonight's the full moon. He's being even worse today." She says smiling. "But I've almost got him convinced, I'm sure." She's blushing slightly.

"Right," I say winking at her. "I see,"

This makes her blush deeper and the roots of her purple hair start to turn pink.

"Aw is Tonks embarrassed?" I say smirking.

She shoves my shoulder. "Punk,"

I cock an eyebrow and look at her. "Took you that long to realize this? I'm related to the twins remember?"

"Right," She says smirking. "So what did Harry have to say?"

"Nothing really, just how much he hates the Dursley's." I say petting Hedwig.

"I would hate them too."

"Bloody hell Tonks, a puppy would hate them." I say stretching out and leaning against my window. "They're awful."

She nods. "They really are. Did Harry really live in the cupboard under the stairs for eleven years?"

I nod. Then I start laughing. "One time Fred and George locked Ron in the cupboard downstairs for two days and Mum didn't notice. When he got out, Fred and George definitely got one of the worst punishments ever."

"How old were they?"

"About ten." I say giggling. "Mum got mad at all of us for not saying anything. It was bloody hilarious."

"You Weasley's are a different species I swear."

"I know."

**A/N Hey guys! How's it going? Yep, very frustrated with myself because out of habit, I procrastinated reading Grapes of Wrath -.- Ugh, I swear, that is a really boring book. No magic, no killing, no fun! Just ouch. I also have to do projects based off the book. Gosh I need to stop this. Review?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

I walk down the stairs tiredly in a robe opened to reveal a tank top and pajama bottoms.

I walk into the kitchen quietly glancing out at the pitch black night. I sigh. Quickly and quietly I make myself some hot chocolate to try and calm myself from the nightmares.

So many people dead, all by me.

I can't get that little Muggle boy's fearful eyes out of my head. A stupid raid on a muggle town that I didn't have the time to warn anybody about.

The Muggles say it was a hurricane. It wasn't, we had giants to help us, dementors, and we didn't leave very many survivors.

I stare at the mug of steaming deliciousness when I hear a knock on the door.

I glance at the stairs to see if anyone is awake.

I walk to the door with my wand drawn. I mumble a new spell that the Dark Lord taught me yesterday.

The form of Harry with a stag misted through the door while the stag danced around him.

Harry? What's he doing here?

I put my wand away and open the door. "Harry?" I say looking at him curiously.

"Hey," He says smiling against the wind chill.

"Come on in." I say letting him in.

He walks in and looks at me with a lopsided smile. "Dumbledore took me to talk to a bloke named Slughorn; we didn't expect it to be this late."

I smirk at him. "Everyone's asleep. Congrats Potter you bore us."

He chuckles and follows me into the living room.

"What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. Like my alone time. Don't get much of it here." I say taking a sip of the scalding liquid. "You want some?"

"Sure,"

"Great the kitchen's over there." I say pointing to the kitchen.

He smiles. "Why'd you offer it if you weren't going to make it?"

"Do I look like your house elf?"

"Just a bit."

I shove his shoulder. "Prick."

"That's me," He says with a winning smile. "Are you going to make me beg? That smells good."

I lift my chin up in defiance. "Let's see you beg."

He chuckles. "Come on Gin, please?"

He pulls off some puppy dog eyes looking up at me. I swear and get up to make him some as well.

"You're lucky you're not ugly." I grumble.

He gives me a smile. "I love you Gin."

"Yeah, yeah, who doesn't?" I say smirking at what I'm doing.

I hand him the mug and he pecks me on the lips in thanks. "Yeah shut up." I say smirking and sitting gracefully down on the couch.

He sits next to me taking two large gulps of the steaming liquid. "Wow," I say cocking an eyebrow. "It's a little hot, be careful."

He smirks at me. "Don't worry."

Harry chugs the rest of it down and stretches. "Slughorn's coming to Hogwarts as the Defense professor." He says sighing. "He likes me a little too much. Dumbledore says he likes to 'collect' people. He likes to favor people with famous links and people with impressive magical ability. He's a bit sketchy to me. Liked my mother."

"Really?" I say leaning back. Oh yeah, I've heard of Slughorn alright. Been ordering Death Eaters to recruit him. The Dark Lord wants him. "So, he wants to collect you?"

"Yeah I'm guessing." Harry says looking at me.

I nod. "How was your summer?"

"It was okay." He says. "Not a big fan of the Dursley's, so it definitely could have been better."

I smile at him. "Yeah, mum kept arguing with Dumbledore trying to get him to let you come and stay with us all summer."

"Really? Why couldn't I?"

"I don't know." I say honestly. "He never really explained why."

"Of course." He grumbles. "Typical Dumbledore."

I smile. "Yeah, typical Dumbledore, playing god."

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks he's some sort of god and that he can play everyone like a chess piece. Ever thought about that?"

"Not really,"

"Well, I have."

He smiles at me. He slings his arm around my shoulders and we sit there talking and laughing quietly. "I'm tired." Harry says yawning.

"Well, do you want to risk waking the beast that is Ron, or I can just get you some sheets and you can sleep down here on the sofa." I say shrugging.

"I'll sleep down here." He says smirking at me. "Makes you do more work."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You may be the chosen one but I can still beat your ass down."

He chuckles and watches me leave to get him some sheets. I throw them at his face, pink floral sheets that usually would go to my bed.

"You put em on yourself."

He chuckles as I watch him prep his own bed.

He walks over to me and pulls me towards him by my waist. "I love you Gin." He says kissing me.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too." I grumble.

"No, Gin," He whispers. "I really do love you." He kisses my nose and then my forehead.

"I love you too." I say smiling at him.

My heart is beating hard and strong as I walk up the stairs and slip into my room.

I nearly trip over Hermione's mattress on the ground. I grumble under my breath, and continue to skirt around her mattress. Finally, I collapse onto my bed and curl up burrowed under the sheets.

I wake up to squealing. "Harry!"

Then, thumping on the stairs. "Harry?" A male voice says.

"Harry!" I can hear my mum saying and then I swear bones cracking and grinding.

The noise starts to die down and I roll out of my bed. I stand up and look in the mirror.

"I am death." I say looking at the mirror in shock, confusion, and fear. "What ate me? Because it spat me back up."

I just stare at myself unable to move an inch.

I grab a hoodie and flip the hood over my rat's nest of a head, and walk out and down the stairs.

"Harry?" I say smirking at him as I walk into the kitchen. Ron and Hermione look up. "What a surprise." I say sarcastically.

I sit down next to him just as Mum sets a plate for me.

"Did ya miss me?" He says poking me.

"Not at all, in fact could you go away?" I say swatting his hand away.

"What's with the hood?"

"I look like death." I say glaring at him.

"You should be used to it by now." Ron says smirking.

"I'm sorry but I keep looking at you and fear strikes through my heart. I'm just so scared I might end up like _you_." I say looking at him without missing a beat.

Ron is struck speechless. "I hate you."

"Be nice to each other." Mum snaps at us putting a plate of bacon between us.

"But that's not nearly as entertaining." I say smirking.

Mum raps my face gently with the back of her hand. "Behave."

I smirk at her retreating back. "Got in trouble didn't ya?"

"Gonna get punched, aren't ya?" I say in the same tone of voice.

I continue to eat like a human being, something neither of the boys can claim.

"Dumbledore wants to give me private lessons. No one but you guys are supposed to know." He says looking at us as we walk around outside.

"Well at least you know you aren't gonna get a bad education." Hermione points out.

"Yeah, Dumbledore's brilliant." Ron says. "He'll be able to teach you."

"Besides instead of teaching the masses, he can mold the lessons to fit you." Hermione says nodding.

"What's the first thing you think he'll teach you?" I say putting my hands in my pocket.

I have a wife beater tank top on and jean shorts that go down to my knees. Gauze is wrapped around my left arm tightly.

"What happened to your arm?" Hermione asks noticing my gauze.

"Oh, during training Snape and I dueled with some dark magic, and I didn't defend myself. He cut my arm pretty badly, but you can't use magic to heal it, we used a healing potion to stop the bleeding, but that's about all it could do. Now, I have to keep the gauze on it to prevent infection." I say holding my arm out for the others to see it.

"What?" Hermione says in shock. "Does your mum know?"

"No," I say shaking my head. "No point in telling her. I'm not dead so,"

"Why was Snape using dark magic anyway?" Harry growls loudly.

"To help me defend against it." I snap getting him to get his tone of voice in check. "Practice. Besides it's not a big deal. Just a cut."

"You have a roll of gauze on your arm!" Harry says getting angry again.

"So? I'm not dead, what's the big deal?"

"You could have been! What if he had hit you in a worse place?" Ron says stepping up.

"He didn't, I'm fine." I say rolling my eyes.

I continue walking along demanding the other three shocked, outraged, and surprised teenagers to follow me.

"Wanna play some Quidditch?" Ron says weakly.

None of us really want to play but we do anyway, because we have nothing better to do.

The next day I leave for my training session with the Dark Lord.

"Hello My Lord." I say bowing as I enter the room.

"Ginny!" He says almost cheerily.

He's the only creep that can sound scarier when he's happy than angry.

I unwrap the gauze from my mark. "I've been tired of wearing sweatshirts and long sleeves. For Merlin's sake it's the middle of summer!" I say casually. "I came up with this back story, saying Severus cut me during a dueling session. Idiots."

He smiles at me after I finish. "We're going to begin the theory of immortality."

I raise my eyebrows. "Immortality? Who wouldn't kill for that knowledge?"

He leans his arms against the table between us. "We start with the most obvious. The Philosopher's stone. What do you know?"

"Well, it was destroyed by its creator Nicholas Flamel; five years ago, after Potter thwarted your attempt to steal it from Hogwarts by invading the body of Quirrel." I say smirking. "Very brilliant idea, if Potter hadn't gotten the information from the half-breed Hagrid, you would have succeeded."

"No, no, I was grasping at straws you might say." He says shaking his head. "I've already been granted immortality; it was unintelligent of me to seek the stone. I did not need life, I needed a body. Now, what does this stone do?"

"It created an elixir, the elixir of life, which prolongs life. A problem with the elixir is that you must have the stone in your control, and continue to drink the elixir forever. The stone also turned every metal it touched to gold. Wealth and life, two of humanity's yearnings." I say smirking. "Which do you seek?"

He smiles. "I chose life in the past. Now I seek only power. Wealth will come in time."

"Yes, My Lord."

"You understand the stone, I see." He says smiling proudly. "Let's move on to The Deathly Hallows."

I lean in. "I've heard of that, but I don't understand quite what it is."

He smiles warmly. "Let's start with the story."

**A/N CLIFFHANGER! Ha-ha! Nah, I hate them too, but I'm pretty tired and I forgot how to spell gauze a couple of hours ago… yes, T-I-R-E-D. So, you mind reviewing? Complain about the long wait? Th cliffhanger there? Anything?**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

I'm sitting alone in my room, listening to the dull roar of my family.

Yeah, it's my brothers, Hermione, and Harry, so, it's really loud.

Shit happens when you have six older brothers.

The flashbacks of well, everything have started again. Long since memories that I've been repressing, like the Chamber, are resurfacing and I feel like it's tearing giant holes in my façade.

That last attack, damn that was rough. The scars have faded, and the bruises are gone, but I can still remember every face, every fearful face, every fucking face that I looked at that night, are embedded into my eyelids, every time I blink I see them.

And I can't tell anybody. Sure Hermione, Tonks, and Lupin, are _options_, and I definitely trust Tonks a bit more than the others, but she's having problems on her own with Sirius and Lupin.

Hermione? I just don't want to scare her.

What would Hermione think if I told her I killed at least twenty Muggles? I'm a monster! I mean, she's a mudblood! She'll think of the Muggles as part of herself, isn't she very in tune with her Muggle heritage?

Muggle-born, not mudblood.

Then there's Lupin. I don't really know about him. He's more of Harry's beacon.

I need something! For Merlin's sake I need something to trust!

But I would know better than anybody else that you can't trust anybody. Not your family, not your friends, not strangers.

Especially not yourself. Because you are going to do something, that something, is going to be really morally wrong, and then for the rest of your miserable life, you're going to wish that you hadn't been desperate. And you can never escape desperation, because once you realize that you're desperate, there's only one way to go.

Down.

You won't recover, because you are desperate, and once you're desperate, you'll be grasping at straws.

Straws will only let you slip.

I stand up and run a hand through my hair. It won't be much longer before they notice my absence.

I pull on a sweat shirt, shivering as I stare at my left sleeve. I grab a hairbrush and slip out of my room brushing my hair in the process.

"Ew," I say walking into the room. "It's you people."

Fred and George smirk at each other slyly.

"What have you two got planned?" I say warningly pointing my hairbrush at them and backing away as they advance.

"Oh, nothing." Fred says innocently.

"I'll believe that when mum gets on a broomstick."

"Then you'll live your life in disbelief." George says as they make a lunge for me.

I dodge Fred, but George grabs me and they pick me up kicking and insulting. "What are you two half wits going to do?" I say rolling my eyes as they put me in a chair and tie me up.

"See Ginny, you were never good at math."

"You two were never good at anything else."

"Two halfwits make a whole wit."

"And it's unfortunate that you can't utilize that opportunity."

"Breaking out the big words are we?"

"Breaking out the extra stupid are we?"

This has Ron and Harry in fits of laughter, Hermione however doesn't find it all that funny.

"Weak insult."

"Weak muscles."

"Even lamer!" Fred says laughing.

"Look in the mirror, now _that_ is lame."

"Wind up, and snap!" George says shoving Fred's shoulder. "She's good."

I smirk and wink from my bindings. "Now what are you gonna force feed me today?"

Then our dad comes in. "Boys! Untie your sister!" He waits for them to untie me and conveniently pretends not to see me sock Fred in the face. "Bloody hell," He grumbles walking out.

I slap Harry with the back of my hand as I sit down next to Hermione and him. "Didn't do anything about that, could have turned me into a bloody parakeet."

"That's a brilliant idea!" George says pointing at me. The twins leap out of the room and up to their old bedroom giggling like little girls.

"So strange." I say knitting my eyebrows after them.

"They are." Ron says nodding.

My lesson with The Dark Lord was definitely the scariest thing I've ever seen.

Well, it ties closely with the Chamber on my horrifying days of my life.

He performed a ceremony, which made me his heir. Well, we both know he's not going to die, but he wants me to be his second in charge.

My Mark isn't black anymore; it's a gold color now. Impossible to miss.

Now, when another Death Eater presses their Mark, they not only summon our Master, they summon me as well.

I only take orders from The Dark Lord himself, and I give orders to _our_ followers.

I have an entire army starting under my name.

I'm a dark wizard now. And I even have an _army_! That's wicked! But scary. Seeing as I'm in a kinda complicated position.

"My Lord?" I say looking up at him as I stand up. "I wish to aid Draco Malfoy in the mission to kill Dumbledore."

He looks surprised. "Why?"

"My Lord, he won't succeed. While you wish to punish him for Lucius, it doesn't get the task done, however, _I_ can."

He narrows his eyes and thinks. "You may,"

"You will not be disappointed.

Right after I walk in the living room, with my sleeves over my arms I run towards the stairs. I'm pale and shaking like a leaf.

"Ginny?" Ron asks looking up as I run past him.

I run up and dive into my bed slamming the door. Hermione, who had to dive to the side to avoid me colliding into him, straightens up and just looks at me.

I roll over and push up my sleeve.

"Merlin," I whisper.

"What is that?" Hermione says sitting on my bed and moving my arm to look at it.

"I'm his h-heir. In a way, I guess. I'm second in charge. Hermione I have my own army. Merlin." I whisper brushing my sleeve covered hand across it.

"What?" Hermione says startled.

"I-I have his full trust." I whisper. "I have to go to Dumbledore; I have to go to Dumbledore, bloody hell!"

I jump up and push my sleeves down.

I run past Mum straight to the Floo.

"Where are you going? You have chores to do!"

I don't answer and continue to Dumbledore's office.

I land in his office and I explain to him hurriedly about what had just happened. He just stares at me, with a twinkling in his eyes, like he was proud.

"I knew you'd be the one for the job. Horcruxes you say?"

"Many of them, he told me about the diary, he told me about the ring, and he told me about the locket." I say rushing. "Then he told me about Nagini. She's a Horcrux. She'll be the hardest to kill."

Dumbledore gets up to pace his study occasionally giving me a smile that said he was definitely proud.

"He told me about the Deathly Hallows." I say looking at him carefully. "He doesn't trust his Horcruxes. He doesn't just want to be immortal; he wants to defeat death entirely."

He looks at me with eyes that don't really see, I can see the cogs in his mind turning.

"This is good." He says nodding. "This is good."

**A/N Hello guys! Sorry for the late update! I've been on hyper drive with writing all of my original stories, I finished one story that I've been working on for four years now… it's not very good, but you know, in four years your writing style changes A LOT. Anyway! Review please? And if you care enough here's the link to the page with all of my originals. user/BlackenedFire19**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Platform nine and three quarters is packed with worried parents, nervous first years, excited students, and agitated pets.

Harry and I walk hand in hand on the train, talking animatedly about nothing in particular.

We find ourselves a compartment with Luna and Neville, seeing as Ron and Hermione have to go to the Prefect area, it's just the four of us.

I ditch Harry playfully to find my own friends, which I seem to see less and less of.

"Hello!" I say bursting into the compartment, smirking at Collin, Seamus, Dean, and let's not forget Kelsey.

"Ginny!" Kelsey squeals, hugging me tightly.

"I'm not a toy; you can't squeeze me that tightly. Please, I need to breathe." I say shoving her off.

A solid hour passes by and I can't help but seclude myself from them.

They're too bright and cheery, like they can't understand how dangerous any of this is.

Oh, to brighten my day, Draco comes by, this time Zabini is there, as well as Draco's usual cronies.

"Weaselette," Draco snaps. "I want to talk to you."

Dean and Seamus stand up to fight with them but I shove them back.

I walk out and cross my arms. Most people are seated and we can actually have a decently private conversation.

"He told me what you wanted." Draco snarls. "It's my job."

"And now it's mine too. Deal with it. I'm only doing this for your Mum. Worried about little Draco." I say mockingly. "Unless you want me to have a word with Him. I suggest you get over it."

Draco shuts his mouth. "Fine,"

"You're taking that?" Zabini grabs my upper arm. "You give up your position, or I tell Potter what you are."

"Oh?" I say glaring at him. "Let go of me."

"Make me,"

I pull out my wand with a whip, and he shoots three feet back with a well aimed Bat Bogey Hex.

"I spent all summer learning a lot more gruesome than that. I dare you to tell Potter." I say smirking.

"What is going on here?" A plump professor says.

"Well, what does it look like?" I ask.

"You just hexed a student."

"It doesn't look anything like that."

He looks at Zabini. "Why that's Blaise Zabini! And a very nice hex there my dear." He hands me a letter. "Professor Slughorn, by the way."

"Ginny Weasley." I say curiously. "What is this detention?"

"No, Merlin no!" He says laughing.

Draco seems to think that Slughorn's about to eat him, but you know I wouldn't be all that devastated if he did.

Slughorn walks away laughing.

"Well," I say looking at the struggling Zabini, now with a letter on his chest, and back to Draco. "I'll meet you in front of the Room of Requirement."

With that I walk inside.

Kelsey winces. "How many detentions?"

"Zero," I say smirking.

"Then what's that?" Seamus asks.

I rip it open and read it. I groan. "It's an invitation to tea! Fuck! I don't want to do this! Honestly? Can't I just have one freaking day, where someone doesn't bother me? I have six brothers for Merlin's sake! I need a normal life."

"That's odd." Dean says. "Why would he invite you to tea after watching you hex a guy?"

"Maybe he didn't get the memo that it was against the rules?" Kelsey suggests.

"Or we've got the beginning of a fucked up student teacher love triangle." Dean says.

"You're creepy." I say looking at him. "Or, it's Slughorn, who likes to reap the benefits of being the favorite Hogwarts Professor of students related to famous people or with a great amount of power. He might just think that I'm talented."

They stare at me. "Nah," Collin says scrunching his nose disbelievingly. "It's gotta be the love triangle."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

I walk down to the described compartment at the time stated on the letter, to find Harry walking from the opposite direction.

"Thought he was just gonna collect you." I grumble.

"He chose you too?" He says scrunching his eyebrows together.

"I hexed Zabini," I say nodding at him already in the compartment. "He liked it."

"That's definitely odd." He says just before we enter. "Who ever heard of a professor liking it when a student hexes another student?"

"Apparently this one."

Then we enter the compartment with rather annoyed looks on our faces.

I'm forced to sit between Slughorn and the wall, and me being me, I end up squishing myself against the wall miserably.

He gives out tea and little snacks, and bores us with stories.

"So Miss. Weasley, tell me some about that hex you performed on Zabini here."

"Ehm, he grabbed my arm, I got angry, and hexed him. It's not complicated."

He glares at me and I glare back.

He laughs. "Ho! Looks like we've got a feisty one here eh boys?"

Harry gives me the ghost of a smirk. I smirk back.

We sit in boredom as Slughorn continues his talking. Finally he lets us go after about three hours.

"How long until we get to Hogwarts?" Harry asks slinging his arm around my shoulder.

"I'd say half an hour." I say looking at the position of the sun through the windows.

"Four hours of our lives gone."

"I'll miss those hours. Never will we get them back."

"Yeah, pretty much." He says squeezing my shoulders.

I smirk up at him. "I love you Harry,"

"Love you too Gin," He says kissing me.

Finally we manage to find Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna.

I smile at them all and sit down next to Luna. "Hey Luna, you people."

"Hello Ginny. How are the Gnargles?"

"Very well thank you. I finally got them to go away, I just needed a break." I say smiling.

"Good for you Ginny."

"What?" Ron says looking between us like we're mad.

"Gnargles. Duh," I say shrugging.

Everyone but Luna looks at me wondering if I'm serious. I shake my head slightly to show them I don't really believe.

For half an hour we talk about Slughorn, how much Harry doesn't trust him, how much I can't stand Zabini. Of course, this makes Harry's blood boil.

Apparently, he doesn't like it when someone tries to threaten me.

Harry disappears and I'm sure he's off to spy on Draco.

Don't know why though.

I continue to sit with Neville and Luna.

Merlin I love Luna. She's really the best. Hilarious and brilliant.

I meander into the Entrance Hall and filter through the crowds until we finally all find our seats in the Great Hall.

Hermione and Ron are sitting across from me. We watch the Sorting and the feast begins before we notice Harry isn't with us.

"Where is he?" Hermione says looking at me with wide eyes.

Ron starts stuffing his face while he shrugs. I pick at some mashed potatoes watching the door, silently begging for Harry to walk through them.

Did Draco manage to do something to him?

I search the crowds to find Draco smirking at me. I tilt my head towards the door giving him a cold glare. His smirk grows as he holds up his wand.

I glare at him and put down my fork. I give him a sneer. Hermione is the only one who notices the conversation.

Then Harry walks through the door.

"Blood," I say looking at him. "Why is he always covered in blood?"

He sits down. "Hello," He says grabbing up a napkin and dabs it onto his nose.

"Here," I say wiping the blood from his face. I pull my wand out of my pocket. "Scourgify," I say pointing at his shirt.

"Hurry up and eat, the food's going to disappear in a bit." Hermione warns.

Harry starts to eat while I dab the blood from his face. I look up at Draco as he keeps a watchful eye on me.

I give him a glare that I'm sure he misinterprets

"Who?"

"Malfoy," He grumbles as the food disappears and he puts the fork down.

He takes the napkin from me pecks me on the cheek and wraps his arm around my waist as Dumbledore starts his beginning of the year speech.

The typical routine, only this time he talks about the dangers of dark magic and why the Dark Lord would want to use students to get to us.

Hermione pales and glances at me, I'm too busy smirking across the hall at Draco.

I look back at Harry and exchange worried glances with him.

Kinda confusing actually.

Then, with that, we're sent off to the Common Rooms. Harry keeps his arm tight around my shoulders as we sit on one of the couches by the fire.

"I think Malfoy's a Death Eater." He says as Ron and Hermione sit with us.

Well of bloody course he's a Death Eater! Seriously, Lucius just got arrested, The Dark Lord is angry with them, what do you expect?

"What makes you say that?" I ask curiously.

"He all but said so himself on the train."

"What exactly did he say?" Ron asks leaning in.

"He said he wouldn't be here next year, because he didn't plan on wasting it at Hogwarts, he said that he never much liked Dumbledore, and that he has more important things to do."

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione mumbles to herself. "Harry that's a serious accusation for so little real evidence."

And he is dead on.

"Fat bloody chance!" Ron says sitting back crossing his arms. "Why would you-know-who employ a kid?"

"I-I don't know." Harry says looking down at his feet.

"See Harry? Maybe you should think it a bit further through before accusing someone of that." Hermione says glancing at me.

"I'm going to bed. G'night." Ron says getting up.

"Me too." Hermione says getting up.

"You've been quiet the entire time." Harry says looking at me, almost desperately.

I look at him.

"Do you believe me?"

"It's definitely a possibility. I can see where there is some amount of sense." I say awkwardly. "Look Harry, it's not likely, but it's possible. You need more proof of it. But be careful. Going out of your way to prove it, is going to get you in trouble."

He looks back down at his feet. I place my finger under his chin and turn him so that he's looking at me. "I just don't want you in trouble, or hurt. I love you." I say smiling and kissing him.

He kisses me back. After we break apart, he keeps his arm tucked around my shoulders as we sit back. I cross my legs and lean my head on his shoulder.

**A/N Hey guys! Long since I last updated am I right? Review and tell me what you think!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Classes are pretty rough. I'm taking my O.W.L.'s this year so all of my classes are demanding.

Defense against the Dark Arts is easy beyond relief, but I have to act as if I just don't get it.

We work on casting without incantation. One of the things I'm best at. No one else seems capable of doing it properly.

I'm surrounded by idiots.

Although I'm a handful, and I tend to mouth off towards Snape, I can see the flicker of amusement in Snape's eyes whenever I block a spell Kelsey sends at me with a mutter.

I flick my wand and Kelsey is knocked back.

She looks at me angrily. She grumbles to herself and tries to send a jelly legs jinx at me.

An easy block and I flick my wand sending a powerful stunning curse back.

Snape watches carefully.

Almost before she sends the hex back, I have my shield, and before she can close her mouth, I've hit her again.

She splutters in frustration. "Bloody hell Ginny!"

"What?" I ask innocently. "Harry's taught me a few things."

"A bloody bad influence." She grumbles.

"Oh come on, this is fun!" I say brightly.

"You're winning!"

"There's no winning against the Dark Arts," I say giving her my best impression of Snape. "There is only preventing the ever changing beast from devouring your soul."

She breaks into laughter.

"Let's go again." I say raising my wand. "This time don't mutter your incantations. Or at least be sneakier about it."

I pretty much demolish her throughout the entire class.

Potions class is different. We're learning about love potions and I keep getting all of these weird looks from every other girl there.

Slughorn fawns over me and my magical abilities, whilst I struggle to boil water.

A week goes by and Harry and I attempt to spend time together between our near constant studying and Quidditch.

Harry's Quidditch captain so there are multiple rumors about the real reason I'm on the team.

"Okay, so I need to see three laps around the Pitch!" Harry announces to the crowd of people planning to try out.

Katie Bell and I race around rapidly laughing and teasing each other.

We land long before anybody else does and we end up bouncing a Quaffle back and forth, without using our hands.

She kicks it to me and I bounce it behind me from my knee, I bounce it over me with the heel of my foot and kick it to her.

Dean walks over to us. "You'd be good at football." He says impressed.

"What's that?" Katie asks curiously as we continue kicking the ball back and forth.

"Pretty similar to Quidditch, only you can't use your hands and you're not in the air." He says laughing.

Harry calls attention. "Alright, Chasers and Keepers first. Less painful." He says nodding at us.

Katie and I launch into the air, bumping fists and flying after the ball. I grab the ball first, slamming into the other team of Chasers easily.

Without pausing Katie and I rush off to Cormac McLaggen to score. He blocks the shot and it's the other team's ball.

Katie and I sign to each other in our own little language how we plan on getting the Quaffle.

In a flash we're off Katie scoops the ball from where Ron kicked it away, and we weave through the rough wannabe Chasers. She tosses it to Dean who sails it to Demelza Robins, the wrong team.

I grumble and send my shoulder into hers, where Katie grabs the Quaffle again. I zoom ahead ducking beneath Robins and shooting off towards McLaggen.

Katie hurls the ball way ahead of me. I'm going so fast that I catch it and use my momentum to get it into the goal posts.

McLaggen grumbles and tosses the Quaffle back to Demelza.

She sinks it past Ron and Ron sends it my direction.

I barrel roll past Dean and right underneath Katie who blocks Demelza off for me.

I drop it where Katie catches it without a hitch, McLaggen blocks the attempt.

This goes on for a short time before Harry announces the Chasers.

Katie and I make the team with Demelza Robins.

We high five with smirks on our faces. Demelza seems a little left out, although we do give her congratulations.

We take off into the air.

"Alright, Keepers!" Harry says looking at McLaggen and Ron.

Katie, Demelza, and I gather around.

"Let's confuse the hell out of Ron." I say deviously. "He's a good Keeper, let's test him."

"You evil little," Katie says shoving my shoulder. "I guess I should be used to you. Your brothers and all."

I wink. "I'm worse than the twins."

"I can't say I disagree." She says laughing at me.

"Okay, let's focus." Demelza says determinedly.

"Nah, let's just roll with it." I say laid back. "Let's see if we can get Ron to jinx me."

"Good enough," Katie says shaking her head with a chuckle.

I start with the Quaffle. I zoom past my teammates towards Cormac quickly. Katie zooms towards Ron and Demelza zooms downwards.

I turn sharply and hurl it to Katie who barely changes its path to the left goal post. Ron kicks it away almost easily.

We gather again for the next play.

"Oh!" I say excitedly. "I've got a confusing play."

"Alright, let's hear it." Demelza says fairly.

"Okay, so Demelza goes off to McLaggen, just like last play, and Katie goes to Ron. Demelza has the Quaffle, and they think we're about to do the same thing as last time, and instead of Katie shooting for Ron, she hands it off to me, and I go straight up into the air, and just fall, and they'll get distracted, too distracted to notice that Katie doesn't get rid of the Quaffle." I say smirking. "After that, it's up to you guys who scores and whatever."

"That actually sounds like it could work." Katie says impressed.

"Now's for experimentation." I say shrugging.

"You Weasley's and your Quidditch." She says teasingly.

I smirk. "The Harpies will win eventually."

She laughs loudly and we're off.

Katie zooms past me and we fake the pass.

I zoom upwards fast. Once I can't see the goal posts glinting in the sun anymore, I drop backwards tumbling head over heels and spinning sickeningly fast.

I look like a leaf falling from a tree and being blown slightly in the wind.

I smile at the audible gasps from everyone watching. I can see Madam Hooch in the audience looking slightly green as she watches me.

Feet from the ground I pull up just in time to see Katie make the shot, and get blocked by McLaggen.

We may not have managed to get the goal, but I'm pretty sure it achieved the idea. I fly up to the middle of the pitch where they gather around.

"That looked awesome!" Demelza says patting my shoulder.

"I'm a little dizzy, but that was bloody fun."

"If McLaggen hadn't have seen me make the shot, he wouldn't have saved it." Katie reports in awe. "We need to do that during training."

"It is fun trust me."

She laughs and we play one of the more classic plays that are seen in just about every Quidditch game ever played.

"I hate that play." I say catching the ball Ron tosses back at us.

"Why? It's a classic." Demelza says looking at me.

I shake my head. "That's why. Everyone knows it."

"True," Katie says. "Let's try one of Wood's plays."

Demelza looks between us, bewildered.

"Which one?"

"Triangle, then center stops, outside falls underneath and inside goes up, tosses the ball around; center grabs the Quaffle, goes around the goal posts and passes it underneath, where outside passes up and inside makes the goal." Katie describes vaguely.

"Good play, a little run down. McLaggen would recognize it." I say glancing at him.

"Then let's torture Ron with it." Katie says wickedly.

"I like the way you think." I say winking.

Eventually we manage to get McLaggen to miss the ball and Ron is named Seeker.

"Nice Ron!" I say smacking the back of his head.

He glares at me with a small smile. Soon enough, try outs are over and the team is selected.

Harry smiles down at me as we walk back towards the castle.

"That was pretty impressive."

"I try," I say smiling back toothily.

**A/N OMG I AM SO SORRY! I haven't updated in centuries! I'm so sorry… You have my permission to chew me out in a review… I'm so, so, so sorry!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

I meet Draco in front of the Room of Requirements late at night.

He has his arms crossed and a hood over his blonde hair. He doesn't greet me, and we open the Room quickly.

"Whoa," He whispers as we see the mounds of junk in this giant atrium of a room.

"There," I say pointing out the Vanishing Cabinet immediately.

We jog over towards the cabinet.

"How do we fix it?" He asks opening it up.

"I'm not sure." I say crossing my arms as he inspects it. "We should do some research on Vanishing Cabinets. We'll have to diagnose what's wrong with it before we can fix it."

"That'll take too long!" He shouts at me.

I don't flinch. "We have all year."

"He has my mother!" He shouts at me louder, angrier. "You have nothing to worry about! He _likes_ you!"

"Of course he likes me. I'm not afraid to kiss his ass." I say glaring at him. "He's egotistical, the more you inflate it without bending over backwards, the more he'll like you. But you won't be able to do that eh ferret boy?"

He turns red with anger. He whips his wand out and in seconds it's on the floor.

"How did you do that?" He asks backing away from me.

"A wand is merely an instrument." I say calmly. "A magical being can direct their magic through any instrument. And they don't necessarily need an instrument. It takes more concentration to direct their magic and focus it to do a specific task without an instrument to direct it, but it's possible. These are the things the Dark Lord teaches me."

He looks crossed between horror and awe.

"I'm here to help you. I'm going to help you Draco, so just give up. We're going to fix this, kill Dumbledore, and your mother will be fine."

He sits down on a pile of junk and buries his face in his hands. "I don't want to kill anyone." He admits. "This isn't for me. I can't be a Death Eater. I'm not strong enough."

I walk over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to be. We're going to succeed. Things will get better once Dumbledore is out of the way. The Dark Lord will reward us both."

"I don't want to kill anyone." He whimpers.

I sit next to him and rub his back. Who would've thought I'd be comforting Draco Malfoy? I'd have laughed in anyone's face if they suggested that a year or so ago.

He runs his hands through his hair. "Who would've thought we'd be in this situation?" He says bitterly.

"I was just thinking that." I say smirking. "Come on; let's check the cabinet for spells and curses and such."

He nods and we get up. He retrieves his wand and we start assessing what we can.

"Okay, we both do our research over the week, and we meet again Saturday and Sunday this time next week okay?" I say patting his shoulder.

He nods and we part ways to go to our own Common Rooms.

I slip in to find Hermione stressing over a pile of textbooks.

"What do you know about Vanishing Cabinets?" I ask sitting down next to her.

"Um, I'll have to think about it." She says looking at me oddly. "I'll need to read up on the subject."

"Could you be my research?" I beg. "You know how I am when it comes to this kind of thing."

She looks at me desperately. "Alright, alright, fine." She says sighing.

"Thank you!" I say hugging her. "You're a life saver 'Mione!"

She smiles slightly.

"Literally!" I say looking back at her. "You're a life saver."

She pales and shakes her head. "How you manage all of this I'll never understand."

I shrug. "Actually, I'm starting to get used to it. I mean it's a lot of lying to everyone I know and love, but for the most part, it's not difficult. Although, the nightmares are getting to me." I say shivering. "Just when I got rid of the Basilisk."

Hermione pales even further and watches me carefully. "So where were you?"

"I was fixing up a Vanishing Cabinet. There's a pretty complicated web of spells and such on it, we have to reverse them. Thanks to Bill, I have a basic idea of how that's done. I'm going to take down all of its magical abilities and then when the time is right I'm going to restore them." I say running a hand through my hair. "It's all about the timing."

She nods and doesn't ask anymore. "How are you going to get away from everyone?"

"O.W.L's, just walking around, any other excuse I can come up with." I say sitting back tiredly. "We only meet once a week. I'm just afraid for Draco."

"Why?"

"All he cares about is being threatened by the Dark Lord, and he's just a kid. I mean that's a lot of pressure for a kid like that. He's not used to having pressure; he's used to being groomed by his father like a pet."

She watches me.

"I mean, he's just a kid, with a lot of pressure on his shoulder for _anybody_, let alone someone as young as him."

"Just remember that you're even younger than he is."

"But Harry knows, 'Mione. You and Ron did well to set enough doubt in his head, but you know Harry, he's bloody stubborn, he's going to go out of his way to prove that Draco's up to something. Once he finds Draco, he'll find me. Disillusionment charms can only go so far." I say rubbing my temples.

"You know how to do that?" Hermione asks in awe.

"Of course, relatively well actually. The Dark Lord taught me very well." I say involuntarily swelling with pride.

"Voldemort taught you?" She asks her eyes wide.

I flinch. "Don't say his name!" I hiss.

She winces. "I'm sorry, it's a habit."

"A bad one." I say scratching the back of my neck. "Anyway, yes he did, I showed you didn't I? He thinks I'm one of his most skilled and loyal servants. It's almost frightening."

"But you're fifteen! How can he believe you're more skilled than Bellatrix Lestrange?" She asks worriedly.

"Bella and I, well, she thinks we're friends." I shiver. "She's not _that_ bad. Bloody mad, but not _too_ terrible. But I think that's exactly why he believes me to be loyal to him. No one is capable of deceiving him, let alone a witch not even of age."

Hermione shakes her head. "I may be book smart, but you're bloody brilliant in a completely different way."

"I'm lucky," I say shaking my head. "Bloody lucky."

The next day Harry is summoned to Dumbledore's office, whilst I and Hermione are buried up to our throats with books that even mention Vanishing Cabinets in passing.

"This is excruciating." I say putting my book down. "How do you do this every day?"

"Hm?" Hermione asks looking up distractedly. "It's all very fascinating."

I glare at her. "This is worse than the Cruciatus."

She glances at me.

"This is worse than having your soul sucked from your body!" I say groaning. "This is worse than Potions with Snape!"

Hermione laughs nervously. "It's not _that_ bad."

"I don't know, I hate books, and Snape is just, bleh." I say frowning at the book in my hand. "This is not helping."

"Well, Ginny, there's only so much we can do. Unless you can get permission to go into the Restricted Section." She says looking at me.

"I could," I say weighing my options. "I talk about it with him, but he doesn't like the idea that Snape is trying to help. Bella and Cissy made him take an Unbreakable Vow, Draco doesn't like that _I'm_ there, let alone Snape trying to get in on it too." I say lowering my voice, glancing at Ron and my friends carefully.

"So Snape is in on this too?" Hermione asks whispering. "You need to tell Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore already knows, he's rewriting his will. Right now though, it's either Draco kills Dumbledore with Death Eater backup, or Snape kills him if the plan goes awry." I say nervously. "It's a week into the year and I'm already stressed about this death. There's too much that could go wrong."

"Not to mention the Slug Club, Quidditch, O.W.L's and Harry." Hermione adds on.

"I've taken care of Quidditch and school work for the past four years, I can handle it without a problem. Slug Club, I'll just have to find ways around it. I'll use my school work for that. Maybe I can talk Harry into scheduling Quidditch practice when he has his dinner parties and such. This assassination takes priority over everything." I say tiredly. "I mean, it's our lives."

Hermione looks back at the books nervously. "This has a lot at stake Ginny."

"Of course it does." I say looking back at my books. "And I have to mess it up just enough so that the assassination waits until the end of the year."

She nods. "Let's get back to work."

I sigh and pick up the book again.

It's a complicated magical object, but it's possible that I can remove the magical abilities, and then reinstate them when I want it to work again.

Harry gets a lot more attention from the girls in every house except Slytherin. He complains about it often, although he worries about me getting jealous.

Laughable, really.

Hermione and I have to explain to him that now that everyone realizes he's not a nut case, he's actually relatively attractive.

"Imagine what it'd be like if he were actually single." I say laughing. "I mean, some girls, not many, respect that he's in a relationship, but if he hadn't been in one, well, and let's just say you'd be using your invisibility cloak just to go to class."

Harry smiles lopsidedly at me. "Yeah that'd be disturbing. I've decided that I won't eat or drink anything that comes from anybody but people I know I can trust."

I laugh. "I've been employing that rule my entire life. Gred and Forge have taught me many things."

Hermione giggles. "I'm sorry Ginny, but I'm not jealous of you for being the youngest of seven children and the only girl too."

"Yeah, it has it down sides, but for the most part its fun. For example, my life is pretty drama free. I couldn't care less about rumors and boys definitely don't confuse me." I say laughing. "But knowing me, I wouldn't want a sister either."

"Yeah," Ron glares at me. "Lemme tell you from experience, it's awful."

We laugh for a little while before Hermione sighs. "Three months, gone so quickly."

"Yeah," I say laughing. I get up and walk over to my three devious friends.

Kelsey, Collin, and Seamus huddle around talking quietly.

"So what's this year's prank?" I ask sitting down next to them.

"We're going to bewitch buckets of red paint and gold glitter to dump all over the Slytherin spectators at the game tomorrow." Kelsey says evilly.

"Oh they'll love that." I say laughing. "I expect to hear everyone chanting 'Weaselette' tomorrow."

"I feel bad for Malfoy." Seamus says shaking his head. "He thought he was pretty clever for that little name, you wear it with pride."

"Of course I do." I say laughing. "You have to distinguish me from all of my brothers somehow."

"I'm making a collage, a _massive_ collage, of the Gryffindor team." Collin says excitedly. "You, Katie Bell, and Harry are going to be the stars. I want to put your brothers there too, but they're not on the team anymore. Ron and Demelza, Coote and Peakes, they'll be minor, but it's mostly you three because you've been with the team longest."

I nod. "Harry will enjoy that, he just loves it when you follow him around with your camera."

"Only during practice and games though." Collin says shoving my shoulder.

"Will it be moving?" Kelsey asks.

"No, I prefer my collages to be still, although I'll have two copies for scrapbooking purposes. And one set of copies will be moving. The ones on the collage are going to be still because otherwise it'll look confusing and painful." Collin says smartly.

We nod as if we understand what he's saying.

We chat for an hour or so before it gets to being rowdy and annoying to the people around us.

Eventually, we drift off to bed.

**A/N Hey guys, I feel so guilty about it being ages since I updated. I really do. Please review and tell me that you forgive me! I'm so, so, so, sorry.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

I duck a bludger. "Bloody hell Coote hit the bloody bludger at the other bloody team!" I shout at him angrily zooming off.

Ron blocks an attempt to score. Katie flies up next to me. "We're a hundred up; let's try that play you came up with at tryouts."

"My pleasure," I say happily. "Let's go. Let's make a change though," I say glancing at Demelza. "Instead of throwing it across the field where it can get intercepted, we do a double hand off. Demelza flies that direction, Katie goes the other direction, takes the Quaffle, fakes to me, I go up, and then Katie goes back to the goal posts."

They nod, touch fists and we're off to pull off the play.

In seconds I'm soaring upwards to confusion and when I fall back, fear, gasps of breath, and screams.

I chuckle to myself as I fall. Feet from the ground I recover and zoom straight towards the Slytherin Keeper, catch the Quaffle Demelza sends me, and score almost easily.

Harry dives down, catches the Snitch and holds the little golden ball in the air in triumph.

"Gryffindor wins!" The commentator shouts in glee and the crowd roars.

The other Chasers and I fly to the ground as everyone watches the bewitched buckets piss off every Slytherin in the school.

"That was awesome!" Demelza says as we high five each other.

"Course it was! Everything I do is awesome!" I say winking at her. She laughs and other people start to filter over to congratulate us.

Harry kisses my cheek. "Nice," He says in my ear.

"Back at you," I say winking.

We make our way from the cheering crowd to change and go back towards the castle.

"That was bloody awesome!" Collin says bouncing in front of Harry and me, walking backwards. "Ginny that was bloody brilliant you should have seen it! You looked so cool! It distracted everyone! Everyone will be raving about it!"

"More importantly," Seamus says more calmly. "It worked."

Everyone gathers around Harry and me as we walk back to the Common Room, laughing and talking and carrying on.

"Well, well, Weaselette, everyone's hero." Draco sneers as I enter the Room of Requirement later that night.

"Hey, I can't help it, I'm bloody good." I say smirking.

"Don't get too cocky." Draco says smiling at me.

"Says Draco Malfoy, I'd have to take lessons from you to learn the true definition of cockiness."

"I have no clue how to fix this thing." Draco says angrily. "We can't use it. We'll have to kill him differently." He says starting to panic. "It's not going to work. What do we do?"

"Calm, it'll work." I say inspecting it. "It'll work."

"No, no, not in time! Maybe if we had another year, but we don't! He has to die soon! My mum,"

"Will be fine," I snarl. "This will work."

"Snape's onto us, he's been questioning me." Draco says pacing.

"Of course Snape knows!" I growl back. "He's a Death Eater too, remember?"

Draco stops. "I'm not letting him. This is our project. Only us."

"Just don't do anything rash." I say rolling my eyes.

He continues to pace while I try to fix a hole in the back of the cabinet. "There, hand me something we can use to test it."

He grabs a random book from a pile of old dusty things.

"Here, we put it in here, owl Bella and tell her to rip a page out and set it on top to let us know it worked." I say simply. "Then we'll see-"

I'm cut off by the book catching fire.

"Aquamenti!" I say quickly extinguishing the fire.

Draco growls in frustration. "This isn't working!" He shouts punching a pile of abandoned things.

"Calm yourself!" I snarl again. "It takes more than just a few trials to get things like this to work."

Hermione and I sit one day watching Harry fawn over his Potions book.

"Harry, I don't think you should follow that book. It could be dangerous." Hermione says.

"Why what's wrong with it?" I ask.

"It has writing on it, and he's been following the handwritten parts."

"Harry you're taking instructions from a book? A handwritten book?" I ask worriedly grabbing the book from his hands.

Sure enough, there are messy scribbles on the margins of the book making changes to the ingredients and instructions of the book.

"Harry!" I say looking up at him.

"It's nothing like Riddle's diary." Harry says shrugging my gaze off.

"Says who?" I say crossing my arms. "What says those spells there aren't Dark Magic?"

"It just isn't."

"So you've been testing them out?" Hermione asks worriedly. "On who?"

"I tried this one on Ron." Harry says pointing to it. Levicorpus.

"It could have killed him!" Hermione says slapping Harry's shoulder. "You don't even know what it does!"

Actually, it wouldn't have, seeing as Snape created it and taught it to me.

"Well now I do!" Harry argues back.

"Harry, you shouldn't follow that." I say staring at the book like it's about to bite him. "Trust me, it can end badly."

"It's not like Riddle's diary." Harry spits taking refuge in the boy's dormitory.

I shiver and sit back watching him walk off angrily.

"The Half-blood Prince," Hermione says shaking her head. "I'm going to find out who it is."

"As you should." I say angrily. "This could get really bad."

"I know." Hermione says going back to her book. "I'll find out eventually."

"Let's just hope he doesn't do anything idiotic until then." I say sighing.

I manage to convince Harry to leave me alone during the Hogsmeade Weekend so that Draco and I can work on the Cabinet.

Draco doesn't show up immediately, but he seems, more relieved in a way. Tense, but relieved at the same time.

"You didn't do anything stupid did you?" I ask glancing at him after an hour or so.

"No," He says curtly.

"Katie Bell is at Saint Mungo's!" I shout at Draco in the Room of Requirement. "I told you not to do anything rash! What do you do? You send Katie Bell a cursed necklace, and try to get her to deliver it to Dumbledore. Have you gone mad? That's ridiculous!" I shout angrily. "I could kill you right now."

"Wouldn't you just love that?" Draco shouts back nervously. "My plan was foolproof! Her stupid friend got in the way."

"Who cares?" I shout. "You did something stupid that could have gotten you caught! Potter knows it's you!"

Draco pales. "He does?"

"Of course he bloody well does!"

"Merlin no!" Draco worries, pacing.

"This is what happens," I growl to the air. "When you let idiots try to do a wise man's job."

"We'll figure this out." Draco says panicky. "We'll figure this out."

Dean Thomas is our new Chaser, not so bad, seeing as he's talented; he says there's not much difference between Chasing and football.

I'm forced to let Draco alone with the Vanishing Cabinet over holidays, Mum expects everyone home this year.

Ron has a childish excitement for Christmas every year, this year, it's a little toned down, and he has a girlfriend now. Lavender Brown, disgusting, I know, but everyone knows it won't last long.

He doesn't like her, he's just trying to prove that he can snog anyone he wants.

She's just, no, she's Lavender Brown.

Ron is excited to get away from her, even though he acts as if he doesn't want to leave her.

Hermione has been irritated beyond relief by Lavender's constant high-pitched buzzing about Ron.

Harry seems more amused than anything.

"We could do whatever we wanted, right in front of him, and he wouldn't notice." Hermione says rolling her eyes in disgust at the two as they try to suck the other's face off.

"Yeah, we know." Harry says smirking at me.

I elbow him in the ribs. "Why am I here again?"

"Because you love me and can't stand a day in your life without me."

"I'm pretty sure it's to give Hermione some ounce of sanity."

Hermione laughs as Harry and I start a mock argument.

"And scene," Harry says, we simultaneously turn to Hermione.

"That was our impersonation of you and Ron having a fight in the Common Room." I say cheekily. "Clever eh?"

She watches us both with shock. "There's no way you two could have done that off the top of your heads."

"What can we say?" Harry says smirking.

"We have plenty of free time." I say giving her an identical smirk.

"Don't you have to study?"

"Please, even if I did, we all know I wouldn't anyway." I say laughing.

"You're such a slacker Ginny." Hermione says pompously.

"She's not so bad; she does well in her classes, right?"

"Right," I say smirking. "Actually, I do pretty terribly; I just couldn't be bothered to change that."

"See? I like you two as a couple so much better than them, minimal public displays of affection." Hermione says proudly.

"Our relationship is different from what Ron wants in a relationship though." Harry says shrugging. "He wants to be able to snog them in public, and prove he can do it. We couldn't care less, and prefer to tease each other than to see how far we can stick our tongues down the other's throat."

"So blunt," I say tilting my head with a smirk.

"You're worse." Hermione says rolling her eyes with a chuckle.

"I can be." I say sticking my tongue out at her.

The train ride is uneventful, due to the lack of Lavender and Fred and George. For the most part its Hermione arguing with Luna about the existence of some fantastical creature Luna's father wrote about.

Ron complains of his chapped lips while Harry and I talk to Neville about his grades.

"You'll do fine Neville!" Harry says optimistically.

Tonks is waiting for us at the station, her hair a bright, vivacious blue.

"It's pretty Tonks." I say smiling brightly.

"I thought so too!" She says giving me a hug. "How are you holding up?" She whispers in my ear.

"Well, Harry's on my tail though." I say quietly back.

She smiles at me carefully. "Well, it's good to see you."

"You too Tonks." I say laughing.

Tonks whisks us off to The Burrow quickly, and Mum is outside to greet us.

I manage to slip away later that night to visit the Dark Lord.

"Bella," I say walking into the Manor.

She bows to me, deeply. "Ginny," She smiles toothily. "The mission is going well I trust."

"Your nephew is an idiot, but it should work soon." I say formally as we walk towards the Dark Lord's meeting room.

"My Lord," I say bowing deeply.

"Ginny," The Dark Lord says curtly. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Yes My Lord?"

"The Gryffindor Girl, the one to be cursed. How did that come about?" He asks coldly.

"My Lord that was a desperate attempt by Draco Malfoy hoping to kill Dumbledore through a cursed necklace. I apologize deeply. I should have been watching him more carefully." I say levelly.

"I cannot allow this to go unpunished." He says almost regretfully. "However, Bella and Narcissa must know what happens to people, no matter whom, when they fail me."

Narcissa and Bella watch carefully.

"Punish me My Lord; I will not fail you again. I beg of you." I say bowing my head.

"Crucio," He says almost distastefully. Although, I'm sure the words taste good on his lips.

Billions of tiny swords made from pure agony slash at every cell of my body; every ounce of me burns and screams in pain.

My vision is clouded with pain, and I can only hear a screaming sound in the distance, it's annoying and distracting. I writhe and thrash in pain on the cold stone floor.

The coldness only seems to intensify the burning.

Finally, after what feels an eternity, the spell is lifted and I can breathe again.

"Get up off the filthy floor." The Dark Lord commands of me. I obey immediately, ignoring the screaming of my sore muscles. "That is no place for an honorable girl like you. Head up, you are a proud Dark Witch are you not?"

"Yes My Lord." I say obeying his instructions. "There will be no need in the future for that punishment, I swear to it."

"You may leave now." The Dark Lord says bored. "All of you,"

Bella follows at my heels. Narcissa watches me in fear.

I show no emotion as we enter into the dining room, a house elf serving us tea.

I ignore it and sit at the table. Immediately Bella sits beside me, enamored.

"Yes Bella?" I ask cocking an eyebrow.

"I admire you," She says breathlessly.

"Because I allow myself to be The Dark Lord's most faithful servant?"

"Because you offer yourself, despite your position. You have a different kind of pride."

"Pride has nothing to do with it. It is for the sake of efficiency and ease. If it teaches the common Death Eaters a lesson, and teaches them that neither the Dark Lord, nor I, shall accept anything less of them, I will be the scapegoat, for I may be of power, My Lord is first, My Lord takes priority for I wouldn't have such advantages or positions to take pride in had he not be here for me." I say properly. "The Dark Lord comes above us. If he requires someone to torture, he shall torture me. If he requires someone to kill, he may kill me, if he refuses my death, I shall find him someone for him to kill."

She gasps and bows her head. "I will better myself, I have failed him."

"Perhaps," I say uninterested. "I'm leaving; they may realize I'm gone. I must go back to the world of being a fifteen year old girl, as disgusting as it is."

She bows before me. "Bella," I say in dismissal.

In seconds I'm whisked back to the Burrow. I stiffly walk through the living room, where my brothers take no notice of my arrival.

Tonks and Lupin look up to notice me climbing the stairs stiffly.

"Ginny?" Lupin asks curiously.

"I'm fine," I say through gritted teeth.

Tonks follows me up the stairs and to my room, where Hermione awaits my arrival.

"Cruciatus," I say collapsing onto my bed. "But I got a hell of a lot more respect from both The Dark Lord and Bella."

"He used the Cruciatus?" Hermione squeaks.

"Shut up," I snarl clamping my hands over my head. "My head is pounding, and someone's bound to hear you. Yes, the bloody Cruciatus curse. I'm going to murder Draco when I get back. That's it; I'm just going to end both of our suffering."

Tonks sits on the edge of my bed and strokes my hair with sad eyes. "Cruciatus," She mumbles.

"Yeah," I say sighing. "Happy Christmas!"

**A/N Hey guys! Second update today! :D This kind of bounces through time quite a bit, I'm sorry. I had a close shave to being grounded today so. Yeah I've been annoyed, irritated, and distracted today. Review and make it all better? Please?**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Tonks sticks to me like glue most of the holidays. I don't mind. Tonks is so loveable, it's impossible to hate her clumsiness or her naturally bubbly personality, even though she's currently relatively depressed.

She's close to cracking Lupin. The man is stubborn, says he's too old, too poor, and too dangerous for her, but she took my advice, and she's twice as stubborn as he is.

She seems to really worry about me. It's nice in a way, she's someone that knows. And she's smarter than most people believe her to be.

More importantly, she's someone that cares.

I can look around and count out people who would care, but they can't know about anything that I do.

Lupin, someone I've never been very close to, even checks up on me sometimes.

I think with the Cruciatus incident a couple of days ago, everyone who knows has been extra watchful of me.

Dumbledore calls upon me through Snape and his sneering ways, Tonks decides to follow anyway.

"An Animagus?" I shout standing up in anger. "Are you bloody kidding me? Just another thing to balance with, oh I don't know, _trying not to die_!" I snarl. "At least get Slughorn off my back."

Everyone in the room stands stock still. Dumbledore is calm as he watches me with those x-ray eyes.

Tonks watches in shock. Snape looks downright terrified.

"That takes years," I say more calmly, but still angry. "There's no point."

"There is always a point Ginny." He says calmly, his voice seems small in this room; my own seems so much bigger than his, but yet less wise.

"Of what use would it be?" I snarl pacing. "What specific use? It's just adding another person in on this!" My voice rises again in fury.

"Professor McGonagall will have to understand what is going on, yes." He says as calmly as ever before. He seems patient.

"No!" I shout angrily at him pacing faster. "Are you bloody mad? It's another bloody person, not only that but someone I have to see during classes. I'm not letting even more people look at me like I'm a ticking time bomb!"

I continue to pace through the silent room. Snape seems to sink into his chair. He helped create this monster in front of him, this fire headed monster is angry, he shouldn't be here, and he helped create this monster.

Tonks watches mesmerized, her bright pink hair melting into a dull purple and then into a dark blue as if to follow her emotions.

Dumbledore watches patiently as I freak out in front of him.

"I can't just let them know, I can't take it on. They'll get suspicious." I mutter to myself more than to the room. "I don't have time during the week, my weekends are taken up with Draco and Harry and studying." I whip around back towards Dumbledore. "I can't bloody do everything!" I snarl. "I'm not your puppet, I'm not your slave, I'm not special, all I can do is what The Dark Lord has taught me, and so far, he's been more understanding of what limits are, than you have!"

Something like pity flickers in Dumbledore's eyes.

The room itself seems to take a deep breath; the portraits around Dumbledore stare at me, frozen in horror and fear. The silence falls and settles, the only people in the room that matter right now, are me and Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry if that is the case Miss. Weasley."

The anger seems to settle on my face, my eyes harden and my jaw is set. My arms are tense and bent slightly, making me look more intimidating than I really should look for a fifteen year old girl. My shoulders are relaxed in a more frightening way than if they were tense.

I'm already unconsciously taking the most intimidating stance.

This is all getting to my head.

I rub my temple frustrated. Finally, I calm enough to sit down. I sigh. "I'll do whatever you want." I say refusing to open my eyes.

"Very good Ginny!" The Dark Lord says enraptured as Bella and I duel.

Bella brings herself up off of the cold stone floor and tries to raise her wand again. A flick of my wand and she's blasted backwards and into the wall again. In seconds she's tied up and hanging upside down in the air.

The Dark Lord claps for me. "Very, very, talented."

I bow deeply. "Thank you My Lord." I say evenly.

Bella hangs limply.

"Liberacorpus," I say quickly. I unbind her ropes with a flick of my wand.

She stands stiffly and we face the Dark Lord. "I have only positive things to say young Ginny." He says pleasantly. His mood changes immediately to discontent. "Bella, you should prepare yourself for the rising of the Dark Lord. Those that cannot hold their own will not survive."

Bella straightens her back and lifts her head up. "Anything for you My Lord."

"Bring me, Dolohov." The Dark Lord says proudly. "We'll see how he fares; he should be easy for you."

Bella bows to the both of us and moves to the crowd of surrounding Death Eaters. Snape watches me carefully, if not disinterestedly.

Dolohov steps forward assuredly.

I tilt my head and watch as me moves towards the circle. We bow, and in seconds, before he can even properly point his wand at me his blasted up and backwards. He recovers quickly with a cushioning charm.

He sends a bright orange spell, I side step it and send three quick stunners and then, "Crucio," I say bored.

His screams fill the atrium like hall.

"No mercy," The Dark Lord says his toothy frightening smile on his face. He leans forward to watch more carefully.

I lift the curse and watch as he squirms in discomfort. "I want to thank you, for killing my uncles." I say tilting my head slightly and walking towards him. He's panting heavily.

"Expelliarmus," I say disinterestedly. Bella put up a very good fight; I'm not going to play around with this one. I tie him up.

"Very, very, good." The Dark Lord praises me. "We shall continue this over the next holidays. Very, very, good."

"Thank you My Lord." I say almost in awe as I bow and take my leave.

Bella follows me like a puppy back to the main Floo fire place.

"Until next time Bella," I say accepting her bow.

She is silent and at awe as she watches me leave.

She seems so fascinated by me, she is no longer my equal, and she is a servant to me as well as the Dark Lord.

I sneak in back home to find Harry and Hermione sitting across from each other having some sort of argument.

I jump over the back of the couch and land next to Harry. I ruffle his hair and smirk.

"How's it going?" I ask smirking at Hermione.

Harry crosses his arms and leans back, glaring at Hermione. "Nothing,"

"We were talking about the Half-Blood Prince." Hermione says coldly.

"You're still on about that?" I ask slapping his arm. "Harry!"

"I have it entirely under control!" Harry growls at me. "There's nothing dangerous in that book."

"You wouldn't know would you?" I snarl back.

"You wouldn't know if it was!" Harry retorts.

"Right, no I wouldn't know what a book with handwritten instructions on it could do; no I wouldn't know anything about that!" I growl back. "I have no idea how entirely safe all of this is. I have no idea."

I get up angrily and walk out of the room and up the stairs to my own.

"I'm an idiot." I hear Harry grumble to himself guiltily.

What gave you that idea?

I pull back my sleeve and trace the mark with the tip of my wand, entranced.

I hear a knock on the door. I don't want to be around anybody right now. Not right now.

"Ginny?" I hear Harry through the door.

I sigh; I guess I'll let him in. I push my sleeve back down and jump up, carefully skirting Hermione's mattress. I open the door and lean on the door frame.

"I'm not having this argument again." I say looking at him.

"I know," He says pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. "I'm sorry about what I said."

His green eyes are regretful and sad. I can only think about when they're going to be blank and lifeless.

I chuckle slightly. "Of course you are, you're sorry for saying those things, but you're not sorry for using the book, you're not sorry for ignoring our warnings. Sometimes it's not necessarily what you're sorry for, but what you're not sorry for that pisses me off Harry." I say shaking my head.

Guilt flashes across his face.

"Don't feel bad," I say smiling slightly. "Doesn't look good on you."

"I can't help it." He says running a hand through his hair. "If it hadn't been for Kreacher,"

"The Dark Lord would have the prophecy." I say quickly interrupting him.

He's quiet as he watches me carefully. "I know, but it feels like I should blame myself." He says stroking my face with his knuckle. "It all seems to center around me doesn't it? Just attacks me, and finds a way to bring down everyone I know with me."

"It's not true, Harry." I say shaking my head. "It's only because of the Dark Lord."

"Because of a stupid prophecy. Why'd it have to be me?" He whispers. "I just want to be left alone so that I can be with you, without hurting you."

"It could have been Neville." I say looking up at him.

"Yet I can't find it in my heart to wish it had been him." He murmurs.

This is what real Gryffindor courage is supposed to be.

I stand on my toes and kiss him. "I love you, Harry." I say smiling slightly.

"I love you too, Gin." He says smiling back down on me.

I see Draco in the halls occasionally, we don't acknowledge each other, but we always seem to make eye contact and a look of respect passes between us.

Finally, it's Saturday and I have to meet Draco in the Room of Requirements.

I take only three steps into the Room and shut the door before Draco hugs me awkwardly.

"Mum told me about the Cruciatus you took for me." He says. "Thank you."

I shove him off of me and glare at him. "If you hadn't been an idiot, I wouldn't have had to."

He looks down at his feet.

"What have you figured out?" I ask walking over to the cabinet.

"Nothing," He says deflating. "Bloody, nothing."

"An entire week and a half wasted." I grumble. "I can't believe I took that for you."

He seems to be impaled with my words; he looks genuinely upset at my remark.

"I'm sorry,"

I growl and pace back and forth. "We need to take off all of the magical properties and restate them." I say looking back at the cabinet. "Let's get moving."

He raises his wand unsurely.

I flick my wand and the cabinet begins to glow an orange gold color, Draco flicks his wand and jets of light flow from the top and drift towards us in little streams.

I flick my wand again, and a red stream of light separates itself from the white light. Another flick and the red light stream is extinguished.

I do most of the work, because Draco is incompetent enough.

One by one, I extinguish the light, and finally, the Vanishing Cabinet glows no more.

"How do we reinstate it?" Draco asked energized.

"Next week, we'll have to start experimenting. It's an intricate web of spells, and we'll have to figure out what order they go in. Although it shouldn't be too hard to do." I say shrugging. "A lot of logic goes into it."

He nods nervously.

We leave for our Common Rooms.

Tomorrow I start my Animagus training.

It's cool; I'm slightly excited to see what it's about. However, the magic the Dark Lord teaches me is draining enough, I can only imagine how advanced and difficult this could be. Besides, it'll take precious time that I don't exactly have.

**A/N Hey guys! So, I had another off day at school, yet I still had to go in. :\ Blehh! But, I got this in! I hope you guys like, thank you for the reviews you've been sending, they are brilliant! So, you mind doing the same for this chapter? Please?**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

McGonagall looks up from her stack of papers and watches me as I walk across the room and down the row of desks. She is stern as usual, yet she has a slight weariness to her face.

"Miss. Weasley," She says in greeting.

"Professor," I greet back.

I stand in front of her awkwardly as she looks up at me studying me.

"Do you think you can do this?" She asks taking off her spectacles for cleaning. "You look awfully tired."

"Yes Professor," I say nodding my head. "I can."

"Very good," She points me to a miniature cauldron, simmering on her desk. "Take a hair from your head and put it in the potion. In five minutes time, it will be ready for drinking."

I pluck a hair from my head and drop it into the cauldron. "Drinking my own hair, appetizing." I mumble to myself.

The slightest hint of amusement crosses her eyes for just a moment.

She watches me for a moment. "Miss. Weasley, what is the difference between an Animagus, and a werewolf?"

"I thought you ought to know."

"Answer the question."

"An Animagus changes at will, while a werewolf doesn't. Werewolves don't keep their rightful mind whilst an Animagus will during their animal state." I list off of the top of my head.

"Who can become an Animagus?"

"The power is not innate, you aren't born with it, it takes practice to acquire the skill, and not everyone is capable of it." I say simply.

"So explain to me how Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew managed to do so."

"They're bloody stubborn and don't acknowledge common law." I say smirking.

"Time is up. Drink all of it." She says handing me the cauldron.

I don't reach for it. "What's it going to do?"

"Tell you your Animagus form, if you don't see anything, there's no point in continuing lessons." She says sternly.

"Here's to seeing nothing." I say drinking the potion.

I put the cauldron down and all of the sudden the world goes dark.

I can hear the whisper of an animal's name, and a yipping sound.

The image of a fox comes to mind, now that I think of it.

Soon, the black melts away and I'm back standing in front of McGonagall, with a pounding headache.

"I didn't see anything." I say looking at her.

I might as well just get this over with. Maybe when I have the time I'll teach myself, but this private session will be a waste of time.

"Really?" She says looking at me in curiosity. "I guess you aren't capable of being an Animagus."

"Thank Merlin." I say sighing. "I don't have the time for this."

"Well, alright then, Miss. Weasley. Back to your Common Room, go on." She says sternly nodding at me in dismissal.

I take my leave in a hurry smirking to myself.

"This isn't working." Draco groans desperately as he watches me.

"Would you shut it already?" I growl flicking my wand vigorously. "This _will_ work. I can't believe you actually poisoned that Weasley boy."

"He's _your_ brother."

I turn my wand on him and blast him backwards. "He is no brother of mine!"

He looks at me in fear.

"You will respect me." I growl advancing. "This has happened twice now. Potter has got eyes throughout the school. They're looking for _you_. You draw attention to us!" I shout.

He backs up in fear, knowing fighting is futile.

"The Dark Lord has given me power. Power that you could only _dream_ of. You will respect me."

I advance further and he only pushes himself back. I whip around and stalk back to the Vanishing Cabinet. I can hear him begin to hyperventilate, and he runs from the room.

Great job Ginny. You're bloody brilliant aren't you?

"Why do I even care?" I growl to myself.

I flick my wand halting my work so that I can run after him.

I can't find him anywhere. I search through most of the castle until Harry runs past me with a pale face. He stops and grabs my shoulders.

"Ginny, I need you to hold the book for me." He says rapidly, holding out the Potion's book.

I hesitate to touch it. "What did you do?" I say worriedly.

"I'll explain later." He says kissing my forehead and running off in the opposite direction.

I look at the book and shove it into my bag with a shiver down my spine.

Hermione jogs up to me the same way Harry had come. "Did Harry tell you what happened?" She asks slowing to a stop from her leisurely jog.

"No, do you know?" I ask worriedly. "Does it have anything with Draco? I scared Draco off when I got angry, and I have a bad feeling about what happens when Draco is stressed."

"What happens when Draco is stressed?" She asks worriedly.

"Katie, Ron, hell." I say simply as we begin the walk up to our Common Room. "Oh, and I get a good lengthy bout of the Cruciatus curse."

Hermione looks at me with wide frightened eyes.

"Don't worry, whatever happened I'll smooth over. I just hope it's Snape that breaks up whatever happened. Harry gave me his Potion's book. Do you think he used one of the spells in it?" I ask turning to her again.

"He very well could have." She says rubbing her temples. "What could have happened?"

"Well, Snape taught me a few things that Harry talked about were in the book. Like Levicorpus or Muffliato." I say shrugging. "He could have found some Dark Magic and then used it, not knowing what it did, and then gotten in trouble."

"Merlin I hope not." Hermione says speeding up our pace.

Harry is meandering back towards us with his head down and his face still pale.

"Harry!" Hermione and I call out.

He looks up with a start. He jogs over. "Do you still have the book?"

"What happened?" I growl.

"I, eh, well; I used a spell on Malfoy."

"Which one?" I ask scrunching my eyebrows together.

"Sectumsempra,"

"Are you bloody kidding me?" I say shoving his chest. "That could have killed him!"

"You know it?" He asks curiously.

Uh, c'mon Ginny! Think fast! "Yeah, I do. Snape had me researching all sorts of Dark Magic when he and Dumbledore were training me last year. Sectumsempra is bloody dangerous!" I say angrily.

"I know that now." He growls back.

Hermione looks awkward and steps away from us as we fight.

"Yeah, because that's a brilliant way to end things. 'I know that now,' what have we been trying to tell you since you got that bloody book?" I snarl. "We knew it was dangerous."

"It's not all dangerous."

"Because in order for something to be dangerous it has to look dangerous." I say crossing my arms and glaring at him.

I'm right! I mean look at me. I'm pretty fucking dangerous.

"I know Ginny! But it's not dangerous."

"It had Dark Magic in it! Harry, you could have killed him!" I snap.

"I know!" He shouts back at me. "I know Ginny!"

Something in his tone stops me dead in my tracks.

"I know," He growls angrily. "I know I could have killed him."

"You need to get rid of this book." I say holding it up.

He sighs and looks at me hopelessly. "Okay,"

I hand him the book. "Let's go to the Room of Requirement. You can hide it there and it'll never be found."

He nods and follows me back to the Room. He encases my hand with his and gives me a small smile.

"You're too cute." I say standing on my toes to ruffle his hair. "I can't stay mad." I glare at him making him smile wider.

We make it to the Room. He hides it beneath a mannequin head with an old tiara on it.

I tilt my head and look closer at the tiara. It looks oddly, I don't know.

Finally I lead him from the Room of Requirement and up to the Common Room.

Hermione is waiting for us with her arms crossed angrily.

"What's your punishment?" She asks as Harry sits down next to her.

"Snape gave me detention for the rest of the year. I won't be playing Quidditch."

I groan. "Really?"

"Yeah, you'll be Seeking." Harry says sighing.

"No!" I whine. "C'mon if I'm a Chaser we could score more goals than the Snitch and it wouldn't matter if someone else plays Seeker."

"I'm not taking chances Gin." Harry says kissing my cheek. "You'd be Seeker and then Dean will play Chaser, Ron should recover in time. So, yeah Gin that's the best lineup I can put together."

I groan. "Yay," I say sarcastically. "Can't wait."

"We're done." I whisper as Draco stands beside me in the Room of Requirement, looking up at the Vanishing Cabinet.

"We did it." He whispers in awe.

"We need to tell them!" Draco says getting excited.

"We'll tell them, and then we have to wait for Dumbledore to be his most vulnerable. When he's gone away on one of his trips, we'll set up for him to return, when he comes back we ambush." I say nodding curtly. "You go notify Bella and the others."

He nods obediently and we leave quickly.

Once I watch him run off, I jog to Dumbledore's office.

"Professor?" I ask once I'm granted entrance.

"Ginny," He says greeting me with a genial smile and an observant stare.

I walk in and sit down. "It's ready."

He takes off his spectacles and sighs. "Thank you Ginny." He says almost sadly. "You've done admirably well."

I nod. "Thank you."

"Harry and I will be going to get the locket next week. I've found it. I'll be considerably weaker when I arrive. I'll be with Harry so try not to show you."

"Yes sir." I say quietly.

He holds out his hand to shake, I grasp it and we share a look of mutual respect.

"Ginny?"

"Yes sir?"

"Don't let them tell you who you are." He says giving me a smile.

"What does that mean?"

"Think about it." He says cryptically.

"Do you ever speak in anything but riddles?" I ask smiling with a cocked eyebrow.

"Ah, but Miss. Weasley, some things must be figured out by the individuals." He says chuckling.

I scoff. "That's almost as annoying as answering a question with a question." I stand. "Well, seeing as the next time we see each other I'll probably be trying to kill you, goodbye Professor."

"Goodbye Ginny. Good luck, and be careful." He says smiling.

I leave the room with sadness in my heart I never thought I'd feel.

As irritating and ignorant of other people Dumbledore can be, he still is Dumbledore. He's dying now, granted even without the team of Death Eaters itching to kill him he'd still only have a few months left, but it's still going to be a sudden loss. Especially for Harry.

Imagine how Harry will react. He's the last man standing between Harry and Voldemort. He'll freak. Not only will he step up about Voldemort, but Dumbledore is practically Harry's grandfather. Dumbledore is Snape's, Harry's, and my mentor. It only makes sense to feel upset over him I guess.

I'm so lost in thought that I don't remember walking into the Common Room and sitting down next to Hermione.

"Ginny? Are you okay?" Hermione asks looking at me.

I nod. "I'm fine." I sigh. "You'll see."

She just glances at me. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I'm going to go write Tonks. Thanks for everything 'Mione." I say giving her a small smile.

Tonks replies to my letter the next day. She offers support and comfort that doesn't really touch home.

I notice as Dumbledore looks especially calm, and Draco looks plain triumphant, messing around with his friends and acting like the big headed idiot he is.

My O.W.L's begin this week. All of the tests are especially hard.

"I should've studied." I breathe looking down at my Potions exam, not understanding most of what it says.

Poisons and antidotes are easy for me, because I use those more often than the Drought of Living Death. What is that potion for anyway?

If Potions is bad, I don't want to imagine History of Magic or Transfiguration.

Defense against the Dark Arts is surprisingly easy, but that's only because I know how to do the spells that I'm defending against just as well as I know the defense to the spells.

It's exhausting, but finally, the exams are over and Hermione and I are stretched out on the sofas in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"How do you think you did?" Hermione asks looking over at me.

"Terribly," I say smiling at her. "I've been distracted all year."

Hermione nods sympathetically. "Well, maybe if Dumbledore explains what's going on, you'll get to retake them."

"I doubt it." I say glumly.

Ron sits across from us happily. He smiles at Hermione and we both narrow our eyes at him suspiciously.

"Where's Harry?" I ask looking around.

"Dumbledore's office. He's having a lesson." Ron says smiling. "So I figured I'd hang out with you two."

Just then Harry bursts through the Common Room and up the steps to the boy's dormitory.

He comes back down and shoves a tiny bottle of golden liquid into my hand.

"It's Felix Felicis, Gin, I want you all to drink some and then gather as much of the D.A. as possible and patrol the castle, Dumbledore and I are going to go get a Horcrux tonight and I have a bad feeling that Malfoy is up to something." He says rapidly.

We gape at him.

Harry kisses my forehead. "I love you Gin." He says giving me a smile. "Be careful!" He calls over his shoulder already across the Common Room.

I look at Ron and Hermione with wide eyes. "Bloody hell," Ron says hesitantly. "Well go on Gin, take a sip."

I unscrew the cap and take a swallow of the potion passing it to Hermione.

Ron drains the last of it in a single gulp and we stand up, feeling quite prepared.

"I'll alert the D.A." Hermione says pulling a coin out of her pocket.

I fidget with my wand as we leave the Common Room. The Felix Felicis has done little to calm my nerves, but the knowledge that Dumbledore will be dying tonight is enough to make my stomach turn.

**A/N Hey guys! So I've been extremely busy, and yeah. I feel like the last couple of chapters have kinda lost their detail and well, pizzazz… if you can call it that. Anyway, that will change next chapter and all throughout the next year of Hogwarts. This story really takes its own path during Deathly Hallows; it's been mostly canon so far. So, stick with me please and critique would be amazing!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

We walk through the halls our wands poised, ready for any type of combat. Luna and Neville join us at the Room of Requirement.

Then it happens. My scar burns and I look at Hermione.

"Maybe we should split up?" I suggest.

"Yeah, Hermione and I will go down that way and you Luna and Neville go towards the Astronomy tower." Ron says leading Hermione off.

I nod and we make our way towards the Astronomy tower.

Dodging the Aurors and professors patrolling the corridors we hide in the shadows. Neville and I pool our supplies of Fred and George's pranks so that we can split them among the three of us.

A bang sounds from across the corridor.

Neville, Luna, and I look at each other for a moment.

"Call them," I whisper to Luna quickly.

Neville and I rush into action.

Immediately the duel begins and I start to become overwhelmed.

The Aurors have already jumped into combat, but there are way too many Death Eaters for them. I skirt along the wall to find everyone involved. I can see Draco slip by just as I have and jump up the stairs two at a time towards the top of the astronomy tower.

He's going to signal Dumbledore by casting the Dark Mark over the Astronomy tower and lure him into his trap.

Dumbledore is going to let it happen. But I need to get Snape up the steps to take over Draco's duties. That's the whole point of the plan. So that Snape can kill Dumbledore and lure the Dark Lord into believing that the Elder Wand is Snape's, when in reality, the wand's powers have died with Dumbledore.

My heart pumps and adrenaline courses through my body, my senses are on full alert, and I'm suddenly hyperactive.

I throw a few minor curses towards Bella almost playfully as she engages me in a duel in which neither of us throw any substantial hexes or hit each other.

Finally, I see Snape make his way up the stairs.

Bella takes her leave and runs up the steps. I take up another playful duel with one of the other Death Eaters there, I think Dolohov, but I can't really see him.

Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville are struggling to dodge all of the hexes and I watch Neville get hit. Merlin, I hope it wasn't a killing curse.

Its ten unbelievably nervous minutes of hoping that my brother doesn't get hit by the killing curses flying around before Snape, Greyback, Bella, and Draco burst through the fight running down the corridors.

Bella begins to chant. "I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!"

My heart drops as I see Greyback attack Bill.

"Bill!" I whisper. I can't shout here.

Bill fights him off but he's taken down by the carnivorous man. It's disgusting. When I get back to Death Eater headquarters he is definitely getting a round of Cruciatus.

Harry bursts after them, slipping on Neville, he angrily snaps at the retreating Death Eaters.

I watch as suddenly the chaos becomes worse. The air is thick with curses and I skirt my way back towards the area Harry and the Death Eaters disappeared off to.

"We need to get Harry!" I shout to Hermione. "He's going to do something stupid!"

We work together; I send more advanced, darker, curses while Hermione acts mostly as my shield, keeping things from hitting the both of us.

We move faster.

Finally we make it outside. I ditch Hermione and take off after Harry and the Death Eaters.

Hagrid's hut goes up in flames, Hagrid outside wielding his umbrella with Fang under his arm.

The Death Eaters congregate towards the front gates and Harry trails behind them furious, Snape whips around and a brief duel that Harry loses sends Harry to the ground.

The Death Eaters are gone as fast as they had arrived.

I pant and watch as the chaos diminishes so quickly it's dizzying.

Harry walks back towards the castle with his head down.

He walks right past me. "Harry?" I say quietly touching his shoulder.

He continues on towards the bottom of the Astronomy tower.

"It was Snape." He whispers.

I follow him. There's a crowd around the body. Harry collapses onto his knees, grabs the locket from Dumbledore's hands and sobs.

"It was Snape." He repeats louder for the entire shocked crowd.

McGonagall raises her wand and the green Dark Mark is gone from the sky.

I watch in sadness as Harry sobs over the body of our mentor.

The crowd begins to disperse, but Harry stays. Hagrid puts a giant hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Ya ought ter go 'Arry." He grunts.

Harry shakes his head and grips the locket tighter; he refuses to leave Dumbledore's side.

"C'mon 'Arry," Hagrid grunts again.

I wave Hagrid away and kneel next to Harry. I touch his shoulder.

"Harry, we should go." I say quietly into his ear. "It's time to go."

He responds to me. He leans into my touch and finally he nods.

I help him up and wrap my arm around his waist. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and leans onto me.

I lead him to the hospital wing to get checked up by Madam Pomfrey.

I walk over numbly to my family as they're huddled around Bill's mangled body.

Ron, Mum, Dad, and Fleur look up at me.

Mum attacks me in a hug and I don't have the energy to fight her off.

I sit next to Ron and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. I lean into his chest and hug his waist. Hermione looks pale but she watches us with a slight smile.

Fleur frets over her fiancé hysterically.

Finally Mum snaps at her and I watch some sort of mutual understanding pass between them, and then they're hugging each other, sobbing into each other's shoulders.

I look over to see Tonks and Lupin sitting awkwardly next to each other.

Far enough away to not touch each other but close enough to know that they are definitely more than just friends.

Tonks looks directly at me gravely.

I tilt my head in a slight shrug. Enough for her to see that this was part of the plan, but so slight that no one else could see our exchange.

"You two really should get over yourselves." Mum says looking at them. "None of us know how long we have."

Tonks turns abruptly to Lupin. "She's right you know."

Lupin looks at her almost longingly. "I'm too dangerous." He says gruffly.

"Please, we all know that's a sad attempt to punish yourself for something that you can't help." She says irritated.

Lupin is clearly frustrated from having his best argument blown to bits. "I'm poor and too old for you."

"That doesn't matter!" She says desperately. Both have completely forgotten about their audience. "Please just stop acting like I'm nothing to you!" She begs. "We don't know what tomorrow's going to be like Remus!"

He looks around desperately looking for another reason she shouldn't be with him. Finally she forces him to look into her eyes.

He breaks down and kisses her.

I smile. Months of drama between the two, besides Tonks' depression, and _finally_ Lupin drops his stupid act.

A few minutes longer and I think it's time to get them to breathe.

I start applauding the both of them. Hermione giggles and joins in. Eventually everyone but Mum is clapping for them and they break apart to look at us sheepishly.

Tonks' eyes meet mine and I smirk at her. She rolls her eyes.

"It's about time." I mouth to her. She laughs.

"It's time you four get to bed." Mum says to Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I.

We nod and stand.

"Have fun." I say smiling wickedly at Tonks.

She scoffs at me with wide embarrassed eyes.

Harry grabs my hand as we walk from the Hospital Wing.

"You guys go on." I say to Hermione and Ron. I pull Harry off to the side. "Harry?"

He doesn't meet my eyes. He looks crushed.

"Let's go find McGonagall. She's the new Headmistress now. You can tell her what happened, and then you'll only have to tell her once. Okay?" I say caressing his face.

He nods and I lead him off to find McGonagall.

She rushes over to us.

"Thank you Miss. Weasley. Come Mr. Potter." She says leading Harry off. I roll my eyes and follow them.

The new Minister of Magic is there, I think his name is Rufus Scrimgeour.

Harry sits down in one of the seats and I stand towards the back of the room. Scrimgeour gives me an odd look, I glare pointedly back.

McGonagall nods at me and looks to Harry for his explanation.

"What happened here Mr. Potter?" She asks sternly.

Then, Harry begins his tale. Leaving out that they were on a mission to collect the horcrux, he tells them how Draco had disarmed Dumbledore.

Draco disarmed Dumbledore?

Draco disarmed Dumbledore.

This can't happen. No, this is all wrong. Dumbledore was supposed to be killed by Snape without ever raising his wand to defend himself, and have the wand's allegiance die with him.

No! No, no.

Draco disarmed Dumbledore.

Draco is now the master of the Elder Wand.

Great. This is just brilliant!

This could still work though. This could definitely still work.

I could disarm Draco at some point, and the wand's allegiance would come to me.

It's the Elder Wand too. I could get some serious power with that. I could overcome the Dark Lord with that kind of power.

No, I'm better than that.

"Then Snape," Harry stops incapable of finishing the sentence.

Snape still killed Dumbledore. That's good. The Dark Lord will still think that Snape is the Wand's master.

This is really not good.

Finally Harry and I are permitted to go to bed.

We get back to Gryffindor tower to surprisingly, nobody asking questions.

Hermione and Ron must have told everyone, for the most part, what happened. They probably told them not to ask Harry a bunch of questions.

"Try to sleep." I say kissing his cheek. "At least try."

He nods. He kisses my forehead. "I'm glad you're okay."

"We had a little help from Felix." I say giving him a small smile.

He nods and walks up the steps to the Boy's Dormitories. I push Kelsey and Colin away so that I can collapse in my own bed.

I don't leave Harry's side. I force him to eat, to sleep, to take care of himself.

Ron, Hermione, and I sit around him when he opens the locket.

He pulls the paper from it. He reads it with widening eyes. He scoffs and puts his head in his hands.

"He died for nothing." He mumbles. "It's not the real thing. It's a fake. He died for nothing!" He growls.

Ron takes the note from Harry's hand. "R.A.B," He reads. "Who's that?"

Hermione and I shrug. I touch Harry's shoulder gently. "We'll figure it out." I say reassuringly.

"Maybe it's already destroyed." Ron suggests handing Hermione the note.

"We can't assume anything." I say glancing at him. "Besides, it says he didn't succeed, but he's trying to figure it out."

"He's dead though." Hermione says simply.

We go home the next day, after Dumbledore's funeral.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people attend the funeral. Harry keeps me at his side as if he's afraid of losing me in the crowds.

He clutches at my waist tightly. I look up at him curiously.

Sitting through the funeral is pretty uneventful. At some point Harry chuckles at something and I can't help but smile slightly through my tears.

My mentor is dead now. He really was my mentor. He and Snape, they trained me, groomed me into becoming a better spy.

The Dark Lord groomed me into a better witch, a better fighter.

Dumbledore lead me, he may have manipulated me, used me, forced me to keep secrets from everyone I love, but he still supported me.

The next few years are going to be the hardest. The Dark Lord has full rein now and I'm going to be forced at his side.

Snape and I now have permanent seats in the Death Eater's ranks.

I have an underground seat in the Order of the Phoenix, but I can't even reveal that to anyone but Lupin and Tonks anyway.

I sigh and listen to the final words.

Harry leads me over to a tree after everyone begins to disperse.

"Ginny," He says taking a deep shaky breath. "W-we can't keep seeing each other like this." He says looking away from me.

Oh here we go!

Even though I know none of this is because he has lost interest in me, my heart sinks to my stomach.

"Y-You could get hurt! And I can't let anything happen to you. If Voldemort," I wince. He notices and gives me a look. "If Voldemort finds out about us he'll use you to get to me, and I can't let anything happen to you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt, or worse."

I'm silent throughout his rant as he continues on. He stops talking eventually.

"Harry," I say sighing. "You have to be bloody kidding me. Do you honestly want us to become like Tonks and Lupin? Dancing around each other because you flat out refuse to listen to sense?"

"Sense?" Harry growls back. "It's a perfectly valid reason!"

"Oh it's a valid reason. Sure, because the Dark Lord hasn't had two and a half years to figure it out before." I say tilting my head.

Harry snarls and punches the tree. "The Dark Lord, Ginny? _The Dark Lord?_ You can't even say Voldemort's name!" He growls back at me. I wince. "You used to be able to say his name without hesitation!"

I wince again. "I-I,"

"Why do you call him the Dark Lord?" He growls furiously. "Why can't you call him Voldemort?"

I glare at him. "Harry-"

"Say it!"

"Well if you'd let me finish a bloody sentence Harry maybe your questions would get answered!" I snap.

He shuts his mouth. "I just don't understand." He says more calmly.

"I've been having a lot of flashbacks recently." I say shuddering. "The letters and such, I just can't bring myself to say it right now. It hurts."

His gaze softens. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

I chuckle. "I can take care of myself Harry. You however, have a tendency to ignore yourself when you have a problem."

He sighs. "I know." He looks back at me. "Ginny, I still think it's a good idea to take a break."

"What difference would it make Harry?" I say sighing and leaning up against the tree. "Whether or not we label ourselves as 'together' makes no difference to V-V-Voldemort. The fact that we have feelings for each other is enough. He could take Charlie for Merlin's sake and you'd be affected. Not so much as Ron and I, but you'd be affected enough that you'd give yourself up for him. It's your nature. Whether I'm your girlfriend, or your ex girlfriend doesn't make a difference."

His shoulders sag slightly. "I know, I know." He leans his forehead on mine.

"And look at how much good this brilliant idea of yours is doing anyway." I murmur, referring to our position.

"You can stop blowing my argument to bits now Gin." He says his lips twitching upwards. "I love you."

"I love you too." I say pecking his lips. "So, do you give a damn or are we officially not a couple?"

He pulls apart from me and looks at me sadly. "I dunno Gin."

I kiss his cheek. "Then we're taking a break." I whisper in his ear.

It hurts to say it. But I manage to walk away.

**A/N Sometimes, I honestly think Harry's a prick. Anyway, I'd like some criticism/complaints/feedback. You know how you can do that? Ya click that button down below this note, and type up what ya wanna say. Review?**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

I pace Ron's room contemplating Ron's plan.

"C'mon Gin, it's a brilliant idea."

"Sure, I'm sure it is, until they realize it's a ghoul with your pajamas on." I say glaring at Ron.

"It's the best we have!" Ron says rolling his eyes.

Hermione walks in downtrodden.

"Hey 'Mione!" Ron greets with a wave.

"Did you?"

"Yeah, they don't even know who I am." She says quietly sitting on the bed next to Ron.

I nod. "I guess it's the best we have." I say rolling my eyes at Ron. "I swear if it gets me arrested by a bunch of Death Eaters I will tear out your intestines and make you swallow them whole." I deadpan.

Ron laughs nervously. "That's not creepy at all Gin."

I give him a mock bow. "My pleasure," I say drily.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Mum shouts up the stairs.

"Oh!" Ron says immaturely. "What'd you do?"

"More like, what didn't I do?" I say smirking. "Coming Mum!" I call innocently.

I walk down the steps to see Fleur looking apologetic behind a flustered Molly Weasley.

"What'd I do?"

"You haven't picked out a dress yet!" Mum shouts.

"Okay, Mum, fine. I can get a dress it's not that big of a deal." I say holding my hands up in surrender.

"Not a big deal?" Mum shouts angrily. "It's your brother's wedding for Merlin's sake Ginny!"

"Okay, the wedding is a big deal yes, but the dress is not. I can handle this Mum."

"Here, Molly, I vill go with Geeny, and ve will pick the dress." Fleur offers.

Mum turns around and I mouth a quick, "Thank you," and watch as Mum nods slowly.

"Alright, you two go get her dress. Don't harass Fleur too much Ginny."

"Aw, Mum, it's a rite of passage!" I whine playfully.

"No!" Mum says sternly.

Fleur and I walk through the door. "Had to escape?" I ask her with a smirk.

"I did." She says nodding. "Eet is very stressful."

"The wedding planning, yeah I'm sure it is." I say nodding. "It doesn't help that it's Mum's first son. Not only is Bill her first born, but he's also the first of us to get married. She's going to be a monster."

Fleur chuckles quietly as we walk towards town. "I guess that is true." She says.

"It is." I say smiling. My smile falters however as my scar begins to sting.

I'm not being summoned, but I'm going to be trying on dresses, and showing them to Fleur.

I happen to have a bright, golden Dark Mark on my arm.

How am I going to get out of this?

Should I tell her? No, Fleur can't keep her mouth shut. She'd tell Bill, and Bill would tell Mum, and Mum would blow skywards.

I can't risk telling Fleur.

I could get some gauze. What would my story be?

I fell off of my broom!

No, that's weak. But it's simple. It's worth a try.

I didn't even realize that we'd already entered the dress shop as I was mentally panicking.

Okay, if she doesn't fall for it, I can just make her take an Unbreakable Vow! That'll shut her up.

I could wipe her memory.

That's definitely the easiest solution.

But let's try the most humane solution first. The gauze, I pull my wand from my pocket and transfigure one of my socks into a roll.

No one saw, so I'm in the clear.

I slip the gauze into my pocket and meander over to where Fleur is talking animatedly to the dress saleswoman.

"Ah, so this must be her!" She says looking at me.

"Yeah, so what are the colors Fleur?"

"Gold," She says stroking my hair. I scrunch my eyebrows at her.

Do I look like her personal kitten?

Well I am cute.

"Good color for her, it won't clash with her hair." The saleswoman says smiling and touching my hair too.

Really? Must we all touch my hair like a bunch of creepy people?

They find a nice looking gown and they shove me into a changing stall.

I sigh and wrap my arm quickly, then change into the gown.

It flows to my ankles; it's tight around my bodice and dips slightly at my bust. There's a slit going up my leg to around my mid thigh.

Personally, I think its close enough. Come in, get a dress, leave. Let's keep it simple shall we?

Oh no, instead, after both the women fret over me, over my arm, over the dress, discussing the many different ways my makeup could be done, and how my hair should be up in a majestic bun and not down to my waist, the dress is put onto the 'possibilities' list.

"Geeny!" Fleur ticks as she touches my arm. "You must be more careful! Do you think eet will be healed in time?"

"I'm sure some extra help could get it healed in time for the wedding." I say giving her a small smile.

She catches my drift and nods. She takes my hand and drags me towards the racks of dresses.

Merlin help me this is painful.

This is worse than studying. I'd gladly take the Cruciatus over this.

I try about nine different gold dresses on before they finally agree that the first one was the best.

"You couldn't decide on that when I tried the first one on?" I whine while Fleur continues to play with my hair as we sit in the living room with Hermione and Mum. "That lady was just creepy. She seemed way too interested in my hair. Speaking of, _you_ seem way too interested in my hair."

Hermione giggles slightly. "You have pretty hair Ginny, just get over it."

"Yeah, that's great. Thank you for the compliment, but please refrain from touching me." I say shuddering. "Personal space,"

"The dress does look wonderful on you Ginny." Mum says flicking through a magazine of flowers.

"Agreed," Hermione says smiling.

"What are you wearing 'Mione?" I ask.

"A red dress." She says shrugging.

"Very descriptive, you should write a novel about it."

Fleur laughs and whips my hair up into a bun. "Molly, how does theez look?"

"That would be perfect!" Molly says clapping her hands.

Hermione and I sit on Ron's bed while he paces excitedly. "Tomorrow we're getting Harry." He says to Hermione.

My stomach drops. "Mum will be a nervous wreck." I say quietly.

Hermione looks at me. "Is everything alright between you and Harry?"

"Yeah," I say scratching the back of my neck. "We, eh, we split up."

Hermione drops her jaw in shock as she stares at me. Ron looks at me with wide eyes.

"I'll kill him. I don't care if he is my best mate." He growls protectively.

I smile. "Don't worry Ron. I'm fine. He's just being an idiotic prick. He thinks that he's a danger to me. So I let him have whatever security he needs." I say shrugging. "If he thinks I'll be safer if we aren't official, then I'll give him that small piece of mind. I doubt it'll really get us anywhere anyway."

Hermione shakes his head. "He can be so thick sometimes."

"So can Ron." I say arching an eyebrow at her with a small smirk.

Her lips form a thin line and she looks away.

I can't help but smirk. "Anyway, we split up, so please, please just don't say anything about it." I say pushing my hair from my face. "It's going to be bad enough with Mum fretting over you three leaving. Not to mention the wedding."

Ron nods and he and Hermione begin to sort through the things they'll need.

Hermione and I drag our feet back to my room. She collapses on the mattress on the ground and I fall onto my own bed.

"How are you holding up Gin?" Hermione asks looking up at me.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"No you're not." Hermione scoffs. "C'mon, you don't have many people you can be open to, what's on your mind?"

"Well, I don't know how I'm going to wear the dress at the wedding, without showing everyone my matching Mark. That and it's ironic how Harry thinks that he'll protect me by splitting with me, when I'm already the Dark Lord's second hand. Not only that, but I think Harry is coming close to figuring it out." I say quietly.

"Really?" Hermione asks sitting up.

"He noticed that I call Him, the Dark Lord, and not by his name. He got really angry with me about it. We had this whole row over it. I managed to convince him that it was because of flashbacks. But it's a weak cover up. That and wearing gauze at the wedding will be a complete tipoff." I say sighing. "I know that it's only temporary, but this splitting idea hurts anyway. It adds to the stress."

"Ginny you better watch yourself." Hermione warns.

"I know. But you three will be leaving soon, so I can have plenty of time to do what I need. It's dancing around the rest of my family that'll be the hardest part. I could get Tonks and Lupin to help me out, but it'll still be delicate."

"Maybe we can put a charm on it to cover it up?" Hermione says unsurely. "We could cover it up somehow. We'll both work on it."

"I could just injure myself." I say shrugging.

"No, they need you to be healthy Ginny. Besides Voldemort wouldn't like it." Hermione says.

I wince. "Stop saying his name will ya?"

"Fear of a name feeds fear in the object." She recites.

"Well I'm bloody terrified of him got that? You may not have seen him but I work with him on a daily basis, so if you please would do me this one favor." I shudder.

She shuts her mouth with a snap and nods. "Sorry, it's just a habit, and it can get annoying when people are so afraid to say his name."

"Yeah, it's not the name I'm afraid of. It's the person." A shiver runs down my spine. "We'll look through our Charms books tomorrow. I'm tired."

She nods and we quickly fall asleep.

I wake up to people talking and swift feet. I hear Moody's growling voice as he argues with someone.

I roll out of bed and dress myself in a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. I grab my hairbrush, look at it, and put it down. I leave my room flicking my hood over my head to cover my rat's nest of hair.

I pad down the stairs and into the kitchen to find everyone arguing back and forth about who's impersonating Harry and who isn't.

Tonks shrinks back and gives me a hug. "So how's everything? Excited to see Harry?"

I shrug. "Sure. Be careful out there Tonks."

"Sure?" She says looking at me oddly. "Did something happen?"

I chuckle and shrug. "We split. The same damn reason Lupin refused to acknowledge you for the past year." I can't help the bitterness rising in my voice. "Anyway, I've got to get going."

I grab a piece of toast and Tonks and I slip from the kitchen into the living room.

"Why do you have to go? Wouldn't it be suspicious if you aren't here to greet everyone when they get back?" She asks curiously.

"It definitely will be." I sigh. "I'm going to have to check in with the Dark Lord, explain myself and take off. I've got to be back before you guys leave. So if you could do me a favor and keep them arguing that'd be great."

She nods and pats my shoulder before I Floo out.

Arriving at Malfoy Manor, I'm immediately greeted by a humbled Bella. She practically worships me.

"Ginny," She says giving me a deep bow.

I nod my head back at her with a cold expression.

"They're retrieving him today." Snape walks in. He bows only slightly. I glare at him coldly.

"I know this Severus." I say coldly. "They're arguing about the plan. None of them can agree on the same one. Perhaps with luck, it'll get them all killed. Unfortunately, I cannot be there. My, eh, family, for lack of a better word, would get suspicious."

He watches me as I walk from the room regally. I keep my head up as I enter the Dark Lord's meeting chamber. Nagini slithers towards my feet menacingly. I pay her no mind.

"My Lord," I say giving him a respectful bow and a menacing smile. "How pleased I am to have the chance to speak to you."

He turns from where he is pacing and gives me an endearing smile. It's more frightening than gracious, but I don't indicate my true thoughts.

"Ginny, it's been too long. Your plan worked, Dumbledore is dead."

"Yes My Lord," I say my smile growing wider. "There were, of course as with every plan, a few missteps. However, those mistakes caused no harm."

"They're moving the Potter boy today." He says changing the subject. "I need my best Death Eaters to intercept them."

"Ah, but My Lord, I cannot. My family would get suspicious should I not be there. Regretfully, I'm not in a position to split from them so easily. I must wait until I am of age or there would be complications. The day I am of age, My Lord, I will, of course, never hesitate to do your bidding." I say humbly.

"Very well," He says frowning. "You will be forced to miss out on this historical moment. He will not slip from my fingers this time. Ollivander has given me the key to defeating Potter. I will defeat the boy. It has been one embarrassing misstep after another and I will not be ridiculed because of this, this, boy!" He spits. "I will be taking Lucius' wand with me."

"Lucius Malfoy? He is out of Askaban? I didn't know of any break outs My Lord."

"Well you wouldn't have. Your absence has left you incapable of participating in some of our missions. And yes, we did not want the rest of the Wizarding World to know of this breakout, and it seems Scrimgeour agreed with us." He says laughing aloud. "Lucius is here with us. And he must pay for what he has done. Draco failed his mission. Lucius must pay for that as well."

I laugh with him. "I agree My Lord. Lucius is incompetent."

We laugh for several minutes. I don't know. The man scares me, but I can be at ease around him.

"I must go My Lord. They will notice my absence." I say bowing.

"You may go." He dismisses me.

I leave with a smirk on my face. Snape manages to pull me over to a private corner.

"You told them the real date?" I ask quietly, glaring at him.

"It would be suspicious if I didn't." He says rolling his eyes. "Are they following through with the plan Fletcher gave?"

"They are, but Fletcher is being a cowardly prick. Besides that, everyone and their significant other seem to be at war with each other about who is impersonating him. It's downright frustrating. Everything will come to place don't worry." I say waving him off.

Snape grabs my left wrist. "You're slipping Weasley."

"Don't touch me." I snarl ripping my wrist from his hand. "Just what does that mean?"

"You're becoming one of them." He says his voice deadly slick and calm.

I give him a disgusted look. "I'm appalled that you'd think so."

"I saw how you told Dumbledore that the Dark Lord is more understanding. That alone is enough to say you're slipping. You use your abilities constantly. Weasley, you're becoming one of them."

"I will never be one of them." I growl. "Never,"

I stalk away from him. Bella follows me at her heels. "I will not let you or the Dark Lord down Ginny." She says bowing before I leave.

"I trust that you will." I say curtly.

"Did you hear the news?" Bella asks excitedly. She's very much like a diabolical puppy. "The Dark Lord is initiating a Taboo!"

"What?" I ask curiously.

"His name, he's initiating a Taboo, to keep the rebels from saying it." She says smiling.

I smile back. "That's a very brilliant idea."

She nods as I Floo back to the Burrow.

I sneak into the kitchen to find the Order going through the plan once more.

"Hello Ginny!" Tonks says brightly, as if she had seen me for the first time this morning right now.

"Hello," I say dully.

"She's taking the split up pretty hard." Mum says for me.

I glare at her. "Gee thanks Mum."

I grab up a piece of toast and lean against the counters near Hermione.

"Is everything alright?" She asks quietly.

"Be prepared for some combat." I say quietly. "Harry better be bloody safe, the Dark Lord isn't using the twin wand."

Her eyes widen and she gasps quietly. "They know? You told them?"

"Not me," I say raising my hands in surrender. "You think I'd tell him? It was Snape."

Her jaw drops. "That's bloody brilliant."

"It is isn't it?" I say shaking my head looking over the rest of the room.

Tonks meets my eyes a question in her own eyes and the explanation lies in mine. She tilts her head. I shake my head.

**A/N Hey guys! So, kinda a cliff hanger right there. I know I'm evil. Enjoy :D While you're enjoying, you mind reviewing?**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

I pace the room with Mum; she's just as worried as I am.

I can't stand this. If I had the chance, I'd be out there too, but I'm left to trust Snape to keep Harry from getting killed.

"I hate this." I snap at Mum.

"I know you do, Gin." She says vaguely.

I look out the window. My heart jumps as a Portkey lands, and there's Hagrid and Harry.

"Harry," I breathe running out of the door.

Harry hugs me tightly and I bury my face into the crook of his neck. He smells like smoke and a garden oddly enough.

"Hey Hagrid," I say waving at him awkwardly. "Are the two of you okay?"

"We're fine Ginny," Hagrid grunts. "Had a bit of a crash landin' in the Tonks' garden, but we're fine."

Harry nods at me to tell me that this information is correct.

I jump slightly away from him, just realizing our position, I don't miss the look of disappointment and guilt that flashes across his eyes before he turns away to hug Mum.

"Nobody else is here yet?" He asks nervously.

"No one else has arrived yet." I say checking the skies anxiously.

We stand awkwardly in silence waiting for someone else to appear.

First to appear is Hermione and Lupin. Immediately I launch myself at her, and then at him.

"Thank Merlin," I whisper.

"Did you know?" He mumbles.

"I did," I say guiltily. "It would have been suspicious."

"He was there, he can fly Ginny!" Hermione says with wide eyes.

"My wand did something odd." Harry interjects randomly.

"Priori Incantatem?" Hermione asks.

"No, this was different. My wand fired golden flames." He says shaking his head.

"Some spell you fired?"

"No, it did it all on its own."

"How could it do that Harry? It's a wand; it can't do anything without being told." Hermione says.

I'm silent as they go back and forth. Ron appears with Tonks and immediately they're engulfed in hugs.

Suddenly, Fleur arrives with a very bloody George.

"No," I say as Harry and Ron rush to help support my bleeding brother and walk him to the house.

Mum lets out a strangled scream and moves everyone out of the way to get to her son and heal him.

"It was Snape." Fleur says quietly. "He used a spell I've never heard."

"Sectumsempra," Harry says narrowing his eyes at George.

Mum is frantic as her hands seem to move faster than the speed of light.

He won't be able to get that ear back, and it'll leave a nasty scar. Only Snape knows the counter-curse, and he never taught it to me. But I've seen him use it on himself; it's almost like a song.

Bill and Fred appear, and Fred lets out a scream much like Mum's as he rushes to his twin's bedside on the couch. Bill sobs and reaches for me.

I don't know why, Bill and I weren't exactly close, he's the eldest, I'm the youngest, we don't have much in common, but I hold him while he cries into my shoulder.

Bill finishes crying and looks out to the rest of us. "Moody's dead."

Everyone is shocked as they look at him, except for Fred and Mum, both of whom are still fixated on George.

"What?"

"You-Know-Who sent a curse at Fletcher, and he apparated. Moody was hit instead." He says sadly.

The silence is deafening. Mad Eye Moody is dead. He's gone. A legendary Auror is dead. If he can die, it's a miracle we're all alive.

George wakes up slowly while Mum cries gratefully. He lets her hold him while he looks at all of us with a happy smile.

"George, mate, how are you feeling?" Fred asks giving his twin a worried smile.

"Saint like,"

"Saint like?

"Yes, Fred, I feel holy."

"Of all of the ear related jokes in the world, you choose holy?"

"I just woke up give me time."

I smile widely at my brothers and I join Fred kneeling on the ground beside George. "Hey Ginnykins, how've you been?"

"Not nearly as godly as you George but after all, I'm still young, I've got time to show you up." I say winking at the twins.

Fred wraps his arm around my shoulders and I hug his waist.

I sit in the kitchen alone looking out the window at the dark world beyond it.

There are no lights on, so every shadow looks frightening. It sounds childish, but I know what can be lurking in those shadows.

I used to never be afraid of the dark. I'm still not. But, as a kid, Ron, Fred, George, even Percy had that problem. But I observed, it wasn't ever the dark they were afraid of, it was what was cloaked in the dark. Upon asking what would be in the dark that was so scary, they wouldn't be able to give a good answer. I concluded, as a child, that they were never afraid of the dark, but the unknown. Thinking back, that same conclusion can be applied to the fear of death.

So many people these days are afraid of death. I don't think I'm afraid of death. I think I'm afraid of a painful death, something I'd be promised if I were to get captured, or perhaps, I'm afraid of the deaths I've caused, the murders I've committed.

I think that's what I'm most afraid of. In this world, it seems everything is frightening. But the most frightening part of living here, now, is that I'm _not_ afraid. I'm not scared of being here; I'm not scared of my neighbors. Maybe it's because I'm on a first name basis with most of the Death Eaters lurking out there in the dark, or maybe it's because I know that I can take them, but I'm not scared, that's what scares me.

I'm nearly blinded when the light flicks on. I look to see Hermione standing by the light switch, taken aback at my presence.

I give her a small, tired wave and go back to looking out the window, perched on the countertop.

She walks over and leans against the counter. "What're you thinking about?"

"Everything," I say sighing. "I'm going to have to storm in tomorrow, angry because Harry's alive."

I hug my knees to my chest. "I guess you'll have to worry about that tomorrow. Ginny, for your sake, you should just live each day by the day."

"How?" I whisper. "That's why I'm so good at what I do. I plan; I plan everything so perfectly that it's virtually impossible to mess it up." I say leaning my forehead on my knees. "I'm becoming one of them."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm becoming a Death Eater 'Mione." I say as tears begin to prick at my eyes. "I am, even Snape can see it. I can't even help it."

Hermione's silent. I can't see her face.

"Dumbledore could probably see it from the beginning. Maybe that's why he kept pushing me so hard, he wanted to keep me from slipping, but instead he pushed me further away. Bloody hell, I'm like Him."

"No," Hermione says defiantly. "You are not like You-Know-Who. You will never be like him. He is evil, you are not. You are not evil Ginny. You can't be."

"I'm not like Harry or you or Ron. I'm not good. I'm not evil. What the hell am I? I'm slipping."

"You're human Ginny. No one is nearly as good as Harry, he's different, but Ron and I have our flaws too."

"Do know what it's like to kill someone who can't defend themselves? A Muggle perhaps, do you know what it's like to kill them?"

"No,"

"The first time I killed a muggle, a child no less, I felt, I felt powerful." I say looking up to watch her reaction. She looks determinedly neutral. "I felt a power surge. It felt… it-it felt… it felt good."

I see shock run across her features. "I don't believe that you believe that."

"You should because it's true." I say looking out the window. "The Muggle raids we go on, the prisoners I use as test subjects, it's powerful. How does Harry do it?"

"Do what?"

"How is it that he's surrounded by powerful Dark Magic that looks so tempting, and he isn't tempted at all by it? How is he not tempted by the promises of Dark Magic?"

"Dark Magic took his family away."

"It took my family away too." I say looking back at her. "It took away my uncles, and a few cousins, it took away my safety. But I've experienced it first hand, how is it that I'm being tempted so easily by it, but Harry isn't in the slightest?"

"Well, Ginny, you're not Harry."

"I'm not. But I'm supposed to be stronger than this."

I didn't sleep at all that night, although Hermione eventually fell asleep again, she stayed up with me most of the night.

Two days go by rapidly, and Harry and I dance around each other, everything too awkward to have a real conversation. Mum seems dead set, however, on assigning us chores to do together.

Finally, setting the table I snap.

"Harry, what the hell are we doing?" I sigh looking at him.

He looks up, guilt written all over his face. "What do you mean?"

"You're leaving tomorrow, to chase down You-Know-What and we're not even talking to each other. It's bloody ridiculous."

He blinks at me. "It is."

I rub my temple. "Brilliant wording Harry, really, you're quite the philosopher."

He smiles and continues setting the table. "What did you expect Ginny? It's awkward because neither of us having anything to say."

"That's bullocks Harry and you know it." I say rolling my eyes as I set a place at the table. "You'd think after three years we'd be able to have a bloody conversation."

Harry chuckles. We're quickly distracted by an owl that flies through the window, landing on the table.

"It's my O.W.L's." I say untying the letter from its leg and breaking the seal.

I slip the paper from the envelope and unfold it.

"I'm worse than the twins." I mumble.

"Why?" Harry asks walking around the table to read over my shoulder, his arms involuntarily snaking around my waist.

"One O, an E, four P's and three T's," I say glumly. "I only passed two courses."

"Oh," He says reading my grades. "You got an O in Defense." He says optimistically.

"And an E in Charms, but I didn't pass any other classes. Mum's going to kill me." I say rolling my eyes.

Harry leans his head on my shoulder. "It won't be so bad. Besides Gin, they're just grades; you're next to Hermione in the most brilliant people I've ever met."

It's not lack of knowledge; it's the lack of time to study.

I blame Dumbledore for this.

Suddenly, I'm aware of our position, and I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are on mine. Something about his green eyes draws me closer.

His lips brush against mine before he lets go of me and continues to set the table awkwardly.

Disappointment rushes through my veins.

"Harry?"

"You're going to get hurt." He sighs.

I doubt. "Harry, seriously, I'll be fine."

"With Snape as Headmaster at Hogwarts now, the less connection you have with me, the better."

"Yet, it's still Snape, who has taught us since our first year… I think he knows us well enough to tell that we wouldn't just break up right after something like that."

Harry turns to look at me. "You were the one to end it."

"I didn't, you suggested it, and you couldn't decide whether or not you cared." I say glaring.

"Obviously I care Gin." He says desperately. "It's why I want some space between us to protect you. I wouldn't do that if I cared."

I cross my arms and arch my eyebrow challengingly. "There's the exact reason."

He shuts his mouth and sends an exasperated look. "You just have to prove me wrong don't you?"

"It'd help if you were right for once." I say ruffling his hair with a small smirk on my face.

He chuckles and kisses my forehead. "I'd try, but you always seem to find a way to prove me wrong, even if I am right."

"Well if I prove you wrong, then you weren't right to begin with. That makes no sense. Your argument is invalid."

His grin widens. "See what I mean?"

I smile and kiss him.

"Oy, we will have none of that where we're eating!" George says walking in.

I roll my eyes at him, flip him the bird and continue kissing Harry.

"Well that's just disrespectful." Fred interjects.

I glare at him. "I'm not the one intruding on your business."

"Why would you want to? Besides, my business is not for little eyes." He says wiggling his brows suggestively.

"Your hand doesn't count Fred."

"I smell something burning. I think it's you Fred." George says smirking at his twin.

"Please George, Fred's ambidextrous, you have it worse." I say smirking.

"No, I'm the ambidextrous one." George says rolling his eyes.

"Oh, well then lucky you," I say scrunching my eyebrows together. "Sorry, Fred."

**A/N Hello! I'm really freaking sorry for this… It's ridiculous how late this update is. I'm sorry guys… please review?**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

It's Harry's birthday today and the wedding is today as well. I'm anxious to test my charm on my mark.

"Hermione," I whine. "Just do it."

She looks at me nervously and back at my arm again with her wand in her hand. "What if it doesn't work?"

"Then it doesn't work and we try something else."

"What if it hurts you?"

"Then we blame Ron."

"Good enough," She mumbles closing her eyes and tapping my arm. "Abscondo,"

I watch as my golden mark slowly fades to brown, and finally disappears. I grin, but Hermione refuses to open her eyes.

"It worked!" I say standing up. "I can wear clothes again! I don't need to hide under a sweatshirt all the time!"

"It worked," She says in amazement.

She hugs me; I freeze in surprise, then wrap my arms around her and laugh. "Finally," I sigh as she lets me go. "Now, I'm going to find a sleeveless shirt and revel it."

She giggles as I look through my wardrobe, finding said shirt, Hermione turns around so that I can change.

She turns around to find me staring at my left arm. "What's wrong?"

"Now it feels like something's missing." I say paling. I really am becoming one of them. Am I? No, no, I'm not missing my Dark Mark. It's a sign of being a Death Eater; I am not a real Death Eater.

She looks at me sadly. "You're not one of them Ginny. Remember that okay?"

I nod and brush my hair rapidly while Hermione runs a brush through her own hair.

We walk down the stairs to find Harry at the table, a small pile of gifts in front of him with Ron bugging him to open them.

"Ron you're such a child." I say ruffling his hair as I walk by to grab some food. "Happy Birthday Harry," I say smiling at him with my toast in hand, spreading jam on it.

Harry sends me a smile. "Thank you,"

"How's being of age treating ya?" I ask smirking. "I'm shocked Ron's tongue isn't glued to the roof of his mouth yet."

"It's because he actually values what I have to say." Ron says pompously.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that, I wasn't paying attention." Harry says smirking at Ron triumphantly.

"That's how he does it." I say shocked. "Amazing, I could never tune him out that effectively, I was too busy listening to see if he had traced those pranks back to me or the twins."

"Which ones?" Ron says desperately.

"All of em," I say winking.

The day goes by quickly, Mum is running around like a chicken without its head and soon enough I'm getting ready for the wedding.

"Do you think the charm will wear off?" I ask Hermione absent mindedly as I put in a pair of earrings in the mirror.

"I don't know. Maybe we should take it off, and then put it back on again just to be safe?"

"I guess," I say shrugging. "Better do it now before Mum comes in to do my hair."

Hermione nods and pulls her wand from her beaded bag.

"Let me guess, just to be safe you're going to carry everything in that little bag, am I correct?"

She chuckles pointing her wand at my arm. "You're correct. Just to be safe. Better safe than sorry, I'm just so on edge about everything."

"Don't worry 'Mione, Harry and Ron can't screw things up _too_ badly if you're there supervising." I say flashing a smile.

"I'm just worried that Volde-"

"Don't say his name." I snap, suddenly remembering the taboo. "Don't say his name, it could be really dangerous."

"Really, Ginny, the only reason that I sensor myself around you is because of all of this," She says gesturing to my arm. "It won't harm me."

"I don't know 'Mione. Someone mentioned something about a taboo I don't know when they'll start it, but it's not a good idea."

"Whatever, Abscondo, it's not a big deal Ginny." She says rolling her eyes and turning away from me to finish applying her makeup.

"Of course, now of all days," I mutter turning back to my mirror.

Harry is disguised as one of my 'cousins' so naturally we can't actually be with each other, it'd be awkward, but most of the family accepts him. The Weasley's tend to reproduce so fast none of us can keep track of everyone.

I notice out of the corner of my eye Ron and Hermione dancing while Harry sits with my great Aunt, he looks frustrated and a little shocked.

Not surprising, the old hag can't keep her mouth shut.

I continue socializing anyway and soon enough I bump into Tonks.

"Where's the mark?" She asks looking down at my arm.

"Thank Hermione for it, she and I came up with a charm to hide it." I say flashing a smile at her electric blue hair.

"Don't let the Death Eaters learn it. It'll give us hell."

"Don't worry; I've got it under wraps. Actually, I'll probably only use it for tonight." I say chuckling.

"Sounds good, Gin. How've you been holding up? Remus and I have been all over the place on the run."

"I know; its best you stay away from Bella, she's not exactly happy about your little marriage, she won't hesitate."

"Since when would she ever hesitate?"

"When it comes down to me," I say giving her an innocent smirk. "The hag worships me."

"Who wouldn't?" Tonks quips back.

"I ask myself that question every day. I'm awesome!" I say winking.

She laughs happily and we begin a joyful banter.

But of course, the joy can't last for very long during a war.

"The ministry has fallen, Scrimgeour is dead-" Kingsley's voice booms throughout the garden.

Chaos ensues and I see Harry stand up, looking for Hermione and Ron.

I grab Ron's arm as he runs towards Harry. "Don't say his name!" I say to my half-distracted brother before he's gone.

I pull out my wand, tapping my arm, as masked figures launch towards us. I recognize Lucius, and I nod at him to keep everyone distracted.

I run into the house, grab a jacket and stuff it on to cover my arm before Bill finds me, grabbing my arm and disapparating.

We arrive at Aunt Muriel's home breathless. Fleur is stroking my Mum's hair as she cries into Fleur's shoulder.

The twins arrive shortly after and I'm left standing in the middle of the room, the only one that knows what just happened.

I sit down by the twins as we watch the drama unfold. Ron, Harry, and Hermione are gone, Dad has yet to come back, and neither has Charlie.

Charlie bursts through the door with torn clothes and dark eyes. "Dad's fine, the house is fine, everyone's okay. We're putting up the enchantments right now." He says calmly.

He looks at me and smiles. Charlie and I have always been the best of friends. He's the angry one, but there's always been a mutual respect between the two of us. The twins even have a grudging respect for our older brother, but it isn't reciprocated in their case.

Mum perks up at this news and frankly Fleur looks relieved. There's a slight stain on her beautiful gown where Mum had been crying. But with a quick wave of her wand, the stain is gone.

We spend the night at Aunt Muriel's, she's a bit grumpy at this fact, but when is she not grumpy or making some scathing remark about something?

I sneak out of the house around midnight to visit my master.

"My Lord," I say bowing with a light smirk on my face.

"You're late." He says sharply.

"My Lord, my family's home was attacked; would it not have been suspicious should I have just disappeared immediately following the attack?"

"Then how are you here now?" He demands.

"I snuck out My Lord, the rebellious teenager that I am." I quip taking my seat calmly.

He buys the excuse and we continue with the meeting.

"As you know, Severus will be headmaster of Hogwarts, therefore the Carrows will be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts, or now called, the Dark Arts, and Alecto will be in charge of punishing the little brats that rebel against Severus' authority."

"Yes My Lord,"

"I trust you will behave as you see fit."

"Yes My Lord, expect many complaints about me." I say smirking and bowing from the room.

**A/N Hello, my apologies for the late updates, but I've been working hard on my originals, and I finished my 64 chapter Hunger Games Fanfic… can you believe that? Holy crap! Anyway, so that means I only have one Fanfic to focus on, and a few originals to worry about. Balancing y'all out should be easier. I think. No promises. Review?**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"We have to fight back Neville." I snap in a hushed whisper. "You think it's just a war between the Order and the Death Eaters? No, this is a war for everyone. Maybe you weren't chosen to fight The Dark Lord, but you know what? Harry's not the only chosen one. Your parents were taken away from you too. It's your duty to fight the ones that left you with your grandmother. Neville, we _need_ to rebel!"

Luna looks at me levelly. "I'll do it Ginny, but where do we start?"

Neville looks up from his hands before looking me directly in the eye. "We start with protecting the students of Hogwarts."

I smile widely. "There you go."

"Next," Neville says decisively before standing. "We find a way to gather outside support."

"Hogsmeade," Luna says nodding. "We can start there."

"A radio station maybe." Neville says shrugging.

"The twins could figure that out." I say before snapping my fingers and pulling a coin from my pocket. "The DA is back in business."

"Perfect," Neville says nodding. "We know that Luna and I have ours but do the rest of the DA?"

"Luna and I will work on recruiting. Neville, we're relying on you." I say standing and smiling at his nervous expression. "Neville, you're smarter, stronger, and so much more talented than you think you are."

He nods and stands taller. "I've got some ideas."

"Good, we start tonight." I say patting his shoulder and turning to the door.

Just as I'm about to open the door Alecto Carrow opens the door roughly. "Going somewhere?" He asks looking at all three of us.

Neville steps between us. "We saw the Trolley go by a few minutes ago. We pooled our money for some sweets and were about to go and catch her." He says staring at the Death Eater levelly, with a strong jaw, daring the Death Eater to challenge him.

This is our leader.

Luna walks by. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go about and help the other students with our Gnargle problems."

I laugh silently and follow her bumping Alecto's shoulder with my own. "We dare ya to do something." I say winking and walking away with a spring in my step.

"Okay!" Neville calls to the large crowd gathered in the Room of Requirement. "Listen up everyone! You lot have your coins correct? Good. This organization, founded by the Golden Trio, all of you know them, I'm sure. Hermione, Ron, and Harry, they founded Dumbledore's Army to teach us to be better wizards and witches. They founded this organization of students to learn something, to _be_ something. They're not here this year; obviously they're on the run. _We are not going to run_. That is not what Dumbledore's Army is anymore. You need teaching, and we'll provide that. But most of all, we need each other. And above everything, _we need to fight_. We need to fight for our freedom, our beliefs, and everything we are. If you're not willing to fight, the door is over there! Come back when you realize that everything is not okay. The Ministry is gone, and You-know-who is back. I'm going to tell you the truth. Harry Potter is taking care of you-know-who for us. But there's a whole other force we need to fight. The Death Eaters, their supporters, and everyone who doesn't believe. We need to gain support, write your family but be careful, letters are checked, find ways around the oppression. We will not give in. But we need to work together to overcome them. We have the last Weasley at Hogwarts. She'll be sneaking out of Hogwarts every week to meet with her brothers. We have a means of getting things to raise hell. And by Merlin we will not give in." Neville says standing to his full height.

I'm the first to start clapping, soon everyone joins in. "Way to go Neville!" I say smiling before taking his place.

"Alright guys, let's get started. First, we need to set up a few systems. If you see someone, hand them a coin and send them to either Luna or I, we're in charge of recruitment. Neville's going to be organizing everyone and giving them assignments and such. Things are going to be bleak. But we will get through together." I say before stepping through the crowd and across the room towards Luna.

Everyone disperses towards their Common Rooms carefully, everyone is nervous as to what Hogwarts will be like come morning.

Breakfast is eerily silent. Not a single person, even the first years, say a word. Severus sits at the Headmaster seat looking down at all of us with that disapproving, menacing glare.

The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sixth years have Dark Arts first thing, so I get to see how Amycus runs a classroom. I'm frightened by what is going to happen. I know more than Amycus when it comes to the Dark Arts, I've learned quite a bit, and he's not going to like what I have to do now.

I have to recruit, right in front of him, without his knowledge.

I walk inside the once Defense against the Dark Arts classroom to find it greatly changed from what it was before. Snape's style had been, frankly, disturbing, but Amycus is worse.

The walls are lined with chains and shackles, the portraits of gory depictions are still there; however, there are no longer desks; instead, giant cages clutter the floor.

Everyone in the room stands absolutely still, entirely motionless, as we stare about the room, suddenly afraid for what Hogwarts now has to offer for us. Just this change is enough to tell us that everything is not okay, and nobody, not even the students of Hogwarts, are safe.

Amycus strolls into the room, a sick, demented smile plastered on his face as he watches our reaction.

Kelsey moves to stand next to me. "This is demented." She says to him boldly. "You're sick and disgusting. Go back to the rock you were found under."

"Tut, tut, tut, I believe that is detention for you." Amycus says proudly. "I'll see you here tomorrow at ten."

"I have class then." She says tilting her head challengingly. "And so do you, Professor Scum."

"Ah, two detentions, tomorrow and the day after, ten in the morning, I'll see you right here." He says dismissing her comment before turning to the blackboard in the front of the room, beginning our lesson with the entire class stood about the room nervously.

My next class is Transfiguration with the Slytherins; I have McGonagall still, so I expect some sort of structure, and comfort in that structure. The Slytherins jeer at her louder than they would have, had we been here a year earlier, but she treats us all with a kinder hand than anyone would expect.

"Professor," I call to her after class, once everyone had left. "Professor, the DA is going to need your help."

"The DA?" She says looking up at me over her glasses. "You lot aren't continuing on with that nonsense are you?"

"Professor," I say coldly. "It's not nonsense. At least we're fighting for it. Professor, they have me, that's definitely a plus, but we need someone to keep the Carrows at least under some control, or false sense of direction at the very least. I could easily do that without a problem, but not in front of anyone else. Professor, don't act like you're against helping us. You didn't send a single student to Alecto even though they were openly mocking you in class. You're protecting us Professor. I'm only asking you to stretch your patience further for the sake of the students."

She looks away from me without saying another word. I press my lips into a tight line before setting a Galleon on the desk.

"Read the numbers as you would the date." I say quietly before leaving the room.

Next class is Potions. Slughorn is absolutely clueless when it comes to the state Hogwarts is in at the moment. Sure, he understands that Death Eaters have infiltrated Hogwarts, but he doesn't seem to understand the implications of our predicament.

Most of the students around me don't seem to understand that this is war. They don't understand that the last thing on our minds is the typical daily drama of a teenager. They don't understand that we need to grow up. We need to grow up fast.

I grew up a long time ago, when I was possessed by the greatest dark wizard of all time and used to attempt the murders of my friends.

The Chamber seems so long ago now. Thinking back on it, it seems like a dream now. Everything is so dark and depressing that I have no idea how I should feel.

I _should_ be terrified for my life, for Ron's life, for Hermione's life, for Harry's life. I _should_ be crying or on the brink of tears every ten minutes like Cho Chang was when Cedric, her boyfriend of the time and the first casualty of the second war, was murdered. But that's not it. That's not the case. I feel, if anything, _alive_.

My thoughts are brought back to Potions class by Slughorn calling my name and asking me a question.

"Er, what?" I ask shaking my thoughts from my head.

"I asked what the liver of a Manticore is used for." He repeats.

That's it. "Look, I don't bloody know, nor do I care. Do you see what's going on around us? A bloody war is raging and what are we doing? Talking about bloody Manticore livers, how absolutely ridiculous. Why don't you teach us something useful, like a potion that'll keep us alive or a potion that'll kill the person trying to kill us?" I snap rolling my eyes and sitting back in my seat.

Slughorn looks thoughtful as he contemplates my response. "I suppose, I suppose you're correct Miss. Weasley." He says shocking the room. I expected detention. "In light of current events, perhaps we should prepare for ourselves, and not our tests don't you agree?"

Everyone is shocked and excited about learning something of use in this class.

"Miss. Weasley, do you have any suggestions?"

I ponder my response. "The poison that almost killed my brother last year. Remember? It almost killed you and Harry as well, if it hadn't been for a bezoar."

His smile grows. "That's a very difficult poison, it tends to be colorless, odorless, as well as tasteless, and you could slip it in a river and kill an entire village downstream."

Everyone leans forward as if it'll help us catch the information he is sharing.

Brewing the poison is relatively easy if you have a basic understanding of the composition of poisons. However, they don't teach poisons at Hogwarts, so Slughorn began with the basics before telling everyone to apply the basics to a more complex idea. After an hour, everyone had a boiling cauldron of death.

"So how would you cure this?" Slughorn asks the class.

"A bezoar!" Someone up front shouts.

"Yes, we saw that last year, who else?"

"The antidote!" Someone else calls.

"And what is the antidote?"

"Dragon scales, unicorn hair, and a tear of a Veela." Someone behind me calls.

"Yes! Class dismissed!" Slughorn says after applauding the smart student in the back. "And twenty points to Slytherin and Gryffindor!"

After dinner the DA meets immediately.

Neville stands tall as he instructs us on what to do. Luna and I walk around correcting people and helping the younger students.

Every now and again someone will crack a joke and a ripple of laughter will sound about the room. I smile and look around. Right now, it can only go downhill.

I come across a reluctant Cho Chang, giving Luna a difficult time.

"This spell is especially good for finding Crumple-Horned Snorkacks." Luna says matter of factly.

"They don't exist Looney- er, Luna." Cho says rolling her eyes.

"Sure they do." I say nodding my head.

"Have you ever seen one?"

"No, but where's the proof that it doesn't exist?" I counter tucking my hands in my pockets.

She stares at me. "There's no proof that it exists Weaselette."

"Oh yeah? Where's the proof that it doesn't?" I once again counter, cocking an eyebrow. "There's no proof that it doesn't exist, so what's to say that it just hasn't been seen yet?"

Cho rolls her eyes and turns away from me.

Luna looks at me with a bright, lucid smile. "You know, most people dismiss my ideas without contemplation. I'm proud of you for figuring it out." With that, she walks away to talk to some first years.

Neville comes to my side. "She's bloody brilliant, just no one takes the time to see it." I say tilting my head.

"We all could learn a thing or two from Luna." Neville says nodding.

"I know I have." I say before turning away.

**A/N I suck. I suck, I know. I'M SO FREAKING SORRY!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

The next day I sit at lunch with Neville and Luna before Kelsey walks in, bruises covering her face and exposed arms. She moves slowly as if she's in a great deal of pain.

She sits beside me. "Cruciatus," She says miserably.

"What?" We chorus angrily.

Suddenly a third year bursts into the Great Hall and runs right up to Kelsey. "I'm so sorry!" She squeals hugging Kelsey tightly. "I'm so sorry, I feel absolutely awful. Bloody hell I'm so sorry."

Kelsey pats her back and reassures the girl of her innocence.

"He's teaching the third years how to cast the Cruciatus, and using his classes as detention for the targets." Kelsey says as a tear escapes her eye. "It was awful Ginny; I know how you get into trouble. Just don't do it."

I look her in the eye. "No promises."

And I'm right, a week later I can't escape achieving detention with Alecto Carrow. She sends me to her brother's class with the other Gryffindor students.

Amycus shuts me into one of the many cages before I grab his shirt collar and bring him crashing into the bars.

"You will pay for this." I snarl into his ear before letting him go, fury flashing across my eyes.

Of course Pansy Parkinson saunters in with Draco's usual gang. Draco follows closely, immediately I stand taller and keep my cool while my fellow victims are relatively frantic.

This is not my first lap around the Quidditch Pitch. Draco glances nervously at me every few minutes as Amycus introduces the topic of today's lesson.

"Everyone find your target." Amycus orders before opening the cage.

Pansy immediately grabs me by the hair and pulls me to the side of the room. She throws me to the ground before releasing me.

I laugh haughtily before gaining my feet. Draco rushes to my assistance; however, I shove him off. "I'm going to pretend that didn't happen. After all, I'm sure you didn't know."

Draco glares at Pansy before asking if I'm alright.

"I'm fine." I say waving him off. "I believe I'm here for detention, correct Amycus?" I call across the room.

A few Slytherins look at me oddly for calling the professor by his first name.

Amycus ignores me and teaches the wand motions and the incantation to the class before shackling us to the wall.

Most of the Slytherins take pleasure in the exercise. Pansy smiles horridly as she readies herself to begin the Cruciatus curse on my exposed body.

"Crucio!" She shouts.

I only feel a slight sting echo about my structure before the pain is gone. I find myself laughing.

"Is that it? You have to _mean_ it." I say cackling. "_Mean it_!"

Her face turns red at my amusement before she growls. "Crucio!"

I yelp as a sweeping pain reverberates through my body. "Not quite!" I say laughing. "Wow, you didn't do all that well at all."

"Crucio!" She screams again. Similar results occur. "Crucio, Crucio, Crucio!"

"I don't think you're really cut out for this torturing idea." I say smirking. She almost visibly fumes. "Is that smoke coming from your ears?"

"Crucio!" She screams.

I bite my tongue, refusing to give her the satisfaction of my screaming, but it does nothing. The pain is unbearable. It feels like every cell in my body is being torn to pieces and my wounds are being sprinkled with salt.

She keeps the curse on me for a grueling five minutes before Draco disarms her. My throat is sore from my screaming, and everyone is staring at Draco like he had gone mad.

I look up and manage a tight smile. "Oh sweetheart, it's on."

Draco rushes to unshackle me and drag me from the room. He drags me down two corridors before releasing me and taking a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" He says worriedly before taking a respectful step back.

I cross my arms and lean against the wall. "A little sore, tired, but otherwise just fine," I say smiling at him. "You realize there will be a few rumors flying around now right?"

He hangs his head in shame. "I'm sorry," He whispers. "I just couldn't let her do that to you."

"Why not?" I say cocking an eyebrow and walking by him, expecting him to follow.

"You're not like Him, The Dark Lord, you're respectable, and you understand my dilemma. You have a heart." He says quietly, padding after me like a lost puppy.

"The Dark Lord is my master; he is also your master. Respect him, whether you feel he deserves it or not. Do not underestimate him. He is capable of doing great things."

"He only does horrible things!" He exclaims, collapsing to the floor in a heap of misery.

"I never said they were morally right. I said they were great. Remember there are multiple meanings to the word. If you disagree so, why not join the rebel force and face death like a man?" I say proudly, looking him square in the eye. "Why hide your beliefs?"

"My father," He whispers. "He's in the inner circle as you very well know. I don't want these expectations. I don't want the fame, or the money, or the power. I want to be free!"

"Why are you so cowardly? Accept your fate as The Dark Lord's traitor."

"I am not a traitor!" He says standing again. "I will not betray my father. They'll kill my mother."

"Your disloyalty would not go unpunished." I permit. "However, I will not have a coward within my ranks."

"No, please, you of all people understand!" He says dropping to his knees. I now understand how The Dark Lord sees Bella when she's spewing one of her obsessive rants. "I need this; I have nowhere to go, and no one to look after me. You're willing to help me though. I know you volunteered to help me with the Vanishing Cabinet, I need help now Ginny. I need you to protect me. I can't do this on my own. I am a coward; I can't just treat others with such indifference and dismiss their pain." He says desperately.

I look down at the desperate boy at my feet and sigh. I squat to his level and put a hand on his shoulder. "Draco, listen to me, I'm going to tell you something that will shock you, probably disgust you, and most likely end my life if you don't have the strength to resist Him." I say quietly. "We need a place where they can't find us. The Room of Requirement ought to do."

Draco's expression resembles that of a goldfish. His mouth is open and his eyes are wide and shocked. "So you're actually a rebel?" He shouts in horror. "Yet the Dark Lord trusts you above everyone else?"

"He doesn't believe anyone, let alone a teenager, is capable of deceiving him." I say sitting back in my armchair.

He whispers only one word. "How?"

"A good amount of training and determination," I say watching him closely. "Draco, please don't tell anyone."

"I won't." He says hurriedly. "Aren't you scared?"

"Mortified, but I have things to do, I don't have time to stop and be scared." I say shrugging.

"But you've done all of these things, you helped kill Dumbledore!"

"He was going to die anyway. He just made a flashy exit." I say chuckling.

"So you're really Harry's girlfriend."

I shift uneasily in my chair. "Yeah, I don't know how that'll change when he finds out."

Draco shakes his head. "He'll be scared. Who else knows?"

"Hermione, Tonks, and Lupin. Now you know too."

He nods. "What can I do to help?"

I smile proudly. "I need you to be your cocky, arrogant, slimeball self. Remember how you acted when we first met? Remember how much of a prick you were? That's who you need to be. Gain Slytherins attention and trust; keep them going in the wrong direction. Get Goyle and Crabbe to do your bidding and such. And distract the Carrows at night times when the DA meets." I hand him a Galleon. "When this heats up and the numbers change, then you know when to bother the Carrows. Draco, I'm counting on you."

He nods sadly. I ruffle his hair proudly and leave the room. But not before I hear a single, quiet sob.

I find Neville and Seamus standing awkwardly in the back of the Common Room. I walk over to them curiously and kicking Seamus' shin.

"What are you two up to?"

"We're trying to get the attention of everyone so that we can do some recruitment." Neville says shyly. "But we're nervous."

I roll my eyes and smile. "I'm a Weasley. I'll get their attention."

I raise my wand and shoot red sparks into the air like the flares the Triwizard competitors did during the Triwizard Tournament.

"Hey, over here!" I shout loudly gaining everyone's attention. "The stage is all yours Neville."

He looks at me sheepishly and back up at the audience awaiting us. "As all of you know, Hogwarts has been overrun with Death Eaters, and the world may look dim and dark at the moment, but we still have hope. Harry Potter is fighting for us. They say he's hiding, but I know he's not. He's waiting for the right moment. But we can't just sit around and twiddle our thumbs. We _must_ fight our own battles. It's our jobs to help Harry as best we can. The Ministry has fallen. So who is going to protect the younger students from the Carrows? It's your job as an older student to protect them. Dumbledore's Army is returning. However, we need help. We ask for you to join us as our comrades to campaign for the rebellion and protect our futures. We can't do this alone. Do not underestimate your power as an individual, and together, we are _unstoppable_." Neville says powerfully after taking his place atop a table. "We have a contract, if you wish to join, you sign the contract. If you speak of it to anyone with a Dark Mark, you will face the terrible consequences. You may exempt yourself from the DA without breaking the contract if you find later that you do not wish to be a member. Seamus here will sign you up here. Please, we need you."

With that, Neville steps down from the table and pats my shoulder before walking up to his dormitory.

Neville truly is a fantastic leader. No one expects it however. But this man, he is a true leader.

**A/N Hey guys, so slower update than I thought there would be, but fear not! I've been uber uber uber inspired to come back to this story. I will probably be reading the Harry Potter series for like the umpteenth time so I will either have a lapse in updates or an surge in updates. So please, stick with me and my child here, and please, review. Tell me what you think! I haven't gotten feedback in awhile and I could really use your observations and suggestions. I don't know about you, but *blushes* I kinda feel like I made Ginny a Mary Sue… do you think that I'm guilty?**


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